BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Berlin police were allegedly aware that Anis Amri, who killed 12 people in December 2016 by driving a truck into visitors of a Christmas market in Berlin, was a known drug dealer, according to local media reports on Thursday.
The police allegedly had enough evidence to jail Amri six months prior to the terrorist attack but subsequently tried to cover up their extensive knowledge after the attack took place.
The revelation comes as German Interior Minister, Andreas Giesel told the State Senate on Wednesday that the police had enough evidence, thanks to a document first released in November 2016, to arrest Amri on charges related to drug trafficking.
Minister Giesel's allegations come in direct contradiction with previous police statements claiming that Amri's drug involvement was minor.
The Interior Minister went further and accused the police of not only failing to apprehend a known criminal but also of a cover up in Berlin's criminal police office (LKA) where staff revised critical file notes in an attempt to hide the depth of their criminal knowledge on Amri.
Minister Giesel alleges that special investigator Bruno Jost found two revised notes in the LKA office which back up the allegations of a strategic cover up. The notes show that Amri's phone had been legally tapped and enough evidence collected to prove that he had been involved in drug trafficking.
The Interior Minister has subsequently filed a criminal complaint and started an internal investigation.
The news comes in the wake of mass political unrest in Germany concerning the handling of Amri prior to the terrorist attack on the Christmas markets in Berlin. Many politicians and officials believe more could have been done to prevent the attack.
A Bundestag investigation, which was leaked to the BRB Berlin Public broadcaster, found that both the state and federal intelligence agencies failed to correctly assess the potential danger.
