BERLIN, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Three German police officers and a former police member have been arrested in the northern state of Mecklenburg Western Pomerania on suspicion of stealing ammunition, the public prosecutor's office in Schwerin announced on Wednesday.
Three men stand accused of illegally procuring ammunition from the stocks of the Mecklenburg Western Pomerania state criminal investigation office in the period from April 2012.
The three men then passed on the ammunition to the fourth person accused who was in "contact with persons from the so-called prepper scene," the public prosecutor's office stated.
The so-called "preppers" are preparing for any type of disaster by taking individual measures such as storing food supplies, erecting protective structures or protective devices on existing buildings, providing protective clothing, tools, radio equipment, weapons and other items.
In 2017 and 2018, German police had searched the properties of preppers and found a large number of partly unlicensed weapons and ammunition.
On Wednesday, search warrants for the police officers' private homes and workplaces were issued and executed.
According to the prosecutor's office, a judge would now decide whether a pretrial detention of the four accused was necessary.
