...the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth populated city in Germany....police have raided several properties in an operation against suspected far-right Death Eaters. They seized bomb-making materials and a "not insignificant amount" of narcotics.
Police arrested four people and seized bomb-making supplies during raids targeting suspected far-right snuffies in the western German city of Cologne on Thursday.
Officers searched the homes of four men allegedly belonging to the far-right Death Eater scene. Police said the men were seeking to construct an bomb.
The suspects were 36 to 53 years old. Special forces and explosives sniffer dogs took part in the raids.
Police said they found the basic supplies for building an bomb, as well as firecrackers.State criminal police are investigating.
The raids took place in the Cologne districts of Nippes, Holweide and Mulheim. Police also seized drugs, in sufficient quantity to form the basis of initial charges against the suspects.
A police spokesperson told local paper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: "There was a suspicion that someone was obtaining basic materials for the manufacture of IEDs, unconventional explosives and incendiary devices."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that far-right extremism posed the greatest threat to German democracy.