Polish mafia boss worked as long-time informer for German police

Jeremiasz Baranski nicknamed "Baranina", who has been in police custody in Austria due to suspected links with the murder of former Sports Minister Jacek Debski, has been cooperating with the German Federal Criminal Office (BKA) for many years, writes German weekly Der Spiegel. The magazine is calling the affair the largest police scandal in Europe. BKA refused to give any explanations on the issue. According to Der Spiegel, Baranski became an agent after he was arrested in 1995 for taking part in a large-scale cigarette smuggling operation to Germany. In exchange for cooperating with the German police he received a reduced sentence. On the basis of Baranski's information the German police were able to destroy a network of drug traffickers in Frankfurt. The magazine writes that 15 days before hiring a hit-man to murder Debski, Baranski took euro 420.000 from his account in the Bank of Austria. Debski allegedly threatened him, and it was then that Baranski decided to get rid of him. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A5) A.Z.