Drug Dealing — Organised Groups, Gangs, Import of Drugs Section 30 BtMG

Section 30 BtMG — Drug Dealing – Organised Groups, Gangs, Import,  Commercial Supply to Minors, Importation of Significant Quantities & Death as a Consequence (§ 30 BtMG)

Section 30 of the German Narcotics Act (BtMG) provides particularly stringent qualifications in criminal defence cases involving narcotics. The statutory minimum sentence regularly starts at two years’ imprisonment (para. 1); only in a less serious case (para. 2) is the range three months to five years. The provision covers, among other things, gang-related cultivation/production/dealing, commercial supply to minors, death as a consequence of supplying/administering/handing over narcotics, and the importation of significant quantities. Our firm Buchert Jacob Peter defends nationwide — from the first search and seizure, through detention issues, to the main hearing — with a focus on active substance reports, gang and quantity issues, causation, and concurrence.

Need immediate assistance from English-speaking criminal law lawyers in Frankfurt? Call +49 69 710 33 330 or email kanzlei@dr-buchert.de. For essentials of procedure, see German criminal procedure and our Legal Dictionary.

At a glance: What does Section 30 BtMG regulate?

  • Para. 1 no. 1: Gang-related cultivation/production/dealing (§ 29 (1) sentence 1 no. 1) → minimum sentence 2 years.
  • Para. 1 no. 2: Commercial commission of supplying/administering/handing over to minors (§ 29a (1) no. 1) → minimum sentence 2 years.
  • Para. 1 no. 3: Supplying/administering/handing over with death caused by negligence approaching gross negligence → minimum sentence 2 years.
  • Para. 1 no. 4: Importation of narcotics in a significant quantity → minimum sentence 2 years.
  • Para. 1 no. 5: Intentional § 29a (1) no. 1 act with at least negligent serious endangerment of a child’s or juvenile’s development → minimum sentence 2 years.

1. Organised Group (“Bande”) — para. 1 no. 1

A. Overview

The qualification attaches to gang-related cultivation, production or dealing. Other variants of § 29 (1) no. 1 (e.g., selling, supplying) are covered here only where they form inseparable constituent acts of dealing (one overall transaction).

B. Acts

  • Cultivation, production, dealing (§ 29 (1) sentence 1 no. 1).
  • Other variants only if absorbed into one commercial transaction (assessment as a single unit).

C. Gang-related commission

  • Definition: Alliance of at least three persons with the will to commit multiple, as yet unspecified BtMG offences over some duration. No rigid “gang will” or superior gang interest required.
  • Agreement: Voluntary, forward-looking connection; informal; designed for continuity.
  • Realisation: Liability requires at least one completed or attempted gang offence.
  • Single-offence assessment: Attribution per offence via general rules (co-perpetration/participation) — bare membership is insufficient.
  • Mental element: (Conditional) intent regarding the base offence and the gang element (a layperson’s parallel evaluation suffices).

D. Concurrence & sentencing

  • Single-transaction assessment: Multi-act commercial dealing is typically assessed as one unit.
  • Aggravation: Leadership role, conspiratorial/professional organisation, international links (avoid double-counting pure gang membership).

2. Commercial supply to minors — para. 1 no. 2

A. Purpose

Special protection of minors; wrongdoing intensifies where the offence is committed on a commercial basis (source of income of some duration/importance).

B. Elements

  • Basis: § 29a (1) no. 1 (supplying/administering/handing over to persons under 18).
  • Plus: Commercial intent (repeated acts to establish an income source; indirect advantages suffice).
  • Concurrence: May coincide with § 29a (1) no. 2 (significant quantity) — careful delimitation required.

3. Death as a consequence with gross negligence — para. 1 no. 3

A. General

An offence qualified by consequence: a base act (supplying/administering/handing over) with death as a severe result, caused at least by gross negligence.

B. Objective elements

  • Conduct: Supplying (transfer of control), administering (active introduction), handing over for immediate consumption (with consent for (co-)use).
  • Causation/attribution: The fatal result must be attributable to the base act; mixed consumption/self-endangerment scenarios require rigorous medical clarification.

C. Mental element

  • Intent re the base act.
  • Gross negligence re the fatal consequence (serious breach of duty; objective foreseeability).

D.–G. Attempt, perpetratorship, concurrence, sentencing

Attempt of the qualified offence is possible; examine concurrence with homicide offences (esp. negligent homicide) with care; avoid double counting in sentencing.

4. Importation of significant quantities — para. 1 no. 4

A. Elements

  • Importation: Bringing narcotics from abroad into the German territory (including air/sea routes and airspace), without authorisation under § 3 BtMG.
  • “Significant quantity”: Thresholds refer to the active substance; joint evaluation of co-perpetrators’ separately transported partial quantities is possible; mere accumulation of consecutive imports is not.
  • Intent: Covers importation and the quantity threshold; conditional intent suffices. Couriers generally bear the substance/quantity framework; “excess quantity” can aggravate sentencing if negligently disregarded.

B.–E. Attempt, participation, sentencing, concurrence

  • Attempt: Can begin early (proximity to border/start of transport).
  • Concurrence: Importation may concur in ideal concurrence with gang-related dealing where only a “normal load” was intended for sale.
  • Mitigation: Importation solely for personal use may justify a less serious case.
  • Aggravation: Misuse of couriers (threats/exploitation), particularly sophisticated smuggling methods.

5. Serious endangerment of development — para. 1 no. 5

The qualification applies where a § 29a offence is committed intentionally and thereby, at least negligently, causes a serious risk to the physical, mental or moral development of a child or juvenile. Consider duration, intensity, environment and developmental impact.

6. Less serious case — para. 2

Range: 3 months to 5 years. Requires a holistic assessment (substance/active component, proximity to threshold, role in the network, absence of commercial/gang element, one-off lapse, cooperation, therapy/abstinence, personal-use context, no danger to others). Offences in ideal concurrence must be weighed as well.

Practice & Defence Approaches

  • File access & forensics: Active-substance reports (sampling/homogeneity/method), quantity theory, exclusion of illegally obtained evidence (search, seizure, wiretap). See access to files.
  • Gang element: Robust proof of a gang agreement, minimum headcount, duration, and case-specific gang link; mere affiliation is not enough.
  • Concurrence/single-transaction: Absorption of partial acts into dealing; delimitation import ↔ dealing; clean derivation of ideal concurrence.
  • Courier intent: Indications of knowledge/indifference, trust relationships; “excess quantity” aggravates only where negligently overlooked.
  • Fatal consequence: Medical causation analysis (mixed use, pre-existing conditions), foreseeability; strict ban on double counting in sentencing.
  • Mitigation: Less serious case (personal-use context, threshold proximity, subordinate role, therapy/abstinence, harm minimisation). For practical steps in proceedings see German criminal procedure and general criminal defence.

FAQ on Section 30 BtMG

  • What is a “gang”?
    At least three persons who ally, for some duration, to commit multiple BtMG offences. No formal organisation is required; what matters is future joint offending.
  • When does “commercial” intent apply?
    Where repeated offending is intended to create an income source of some duration/importance — indirect advantages may suffice.
  • Importation or dealing — which prevails?
    Typically assessed as a single transaction; in special constellations (only a “normal load” intended for sale) ideal concurrence importation ↔ dealing is possible.
  • “Death caused by gross negligence” — what does that mean?
    A particularly serious form of negligence: grave breach of duty with objective foreseeability of the fatal outcome — more than mere carelessness.
  • When does the less serious case apply?
    Where culpability is distinctly below average — e.g., threshold proximity, personal-use context, subordinate role, no gang/commercial element, early therapy. For procedural basics, see our Legal Dictionary entry on the course of proceedings.

Contact & Immediate Assistance

Do not make any statements before speaking to a lawyer. We act quickly, secure file access and identify procedural errors to build a defence strategy — discreetly and nationwide. Phone +49 69 710 33 330 · Email kanzlei@dr-buchert.de · Contact page

Contact us – Your specialist criminal defence lawyers in Frankfurt am Main and nationwide

Our law firm Buchert Jacob Peter has worked in Frankfurt am Main for over 25 years with experienced criminal defence lawyers. We represent our clients throughout Germany.

Contact: Phone +49 69 710 33 330 · Email kanzlei@dr-buchert.de

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