Mahmoud Al-Zein ( ar, محمود الزين) nicknamed "The godfather of Berlin" is regarded as one of the most powerful

crime lords Wayne David Crawford (February 11, 1947 – April 30, 2016) was an American film and television actor, and film producer, director and screenwriter. Crawford appeared in nearly thirty films, produced fifteen, wrote nine, and directed seven. Cra ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The

Al-Zein Clan The Al-Zein-Family (also known as the Al-Zein-clan) is an Arab-Lebanese Lebanese mafia, mafia-family based in Europe. They have 3000 members in Germany. Members of the family in Germany and Sweden are known for their involvement in criminal act ...

, is believed to have many members, possibly up to 15000, and it is one of the most feared families among the Lebanese Crime Families. Al-Zein has contacts throughout Europe and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

Biography

Al-Zein arrived with his wife in Germany in 1982 . Later investigations by a special police task force established that he was born 1966 in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

under the name of Mahmoud Uca (first name also written Mahmud or Mahmut). He is believed to hold Lebanese or

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

citizenship, possibly both, but the situation is unclear as he could possibly be stateless, continuing to hamper ongoing attempts to deport him. In 2006, Berlin daily newspaper Tagesspiegel wrote that during a trial "El Presidente" had claimed his real name was Mahaiddine Al-Zein, born in Beirut in 1966, of Lebanese descent. Meanwhile the state prosecutor maintained Mahmoud Al-Zein was born under the name Mahmut Uca in Turkey in 1972. German investigators had found out that Mahmoud's father who - like his son - lived in Germany on state benefits, was registered in the village of Üçkavak (this village is also known under its former Arabic name ''Rajdiye/Al-Rashdiye'') in Mardin Province, close to the border with

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Mahmut Uca was being stripped of his Turkish citizenship on February 13, 2002. However, "El Presidente" denied all this and told the court he didn't know anything about a Turkish citizenship. In March 2008, Mahmoud Al-Zein was sentenced to 4 years and 3 month in prison for

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

. His claim for asylum was already denied in 1984 and the decision upheld despite appeals in 1988 and 1992. Attempts to deport him to Turkey, following convictions for drug trafficking offences, failed after Turkey in 2002 officially stripped him of his Turkish citizenship, on the grounds that he allegedly dodged the obligatory military service in Turkey. On January 29, 2021, he left Berlin on a plane bound for Turkey, with a Turkish passport for Mahmut Uca.

Personal life and family

Al-Zein is married and has 10 children. Officially, Mahmoud Al-Zein makes a living out of drawing German unemployment benefits (''Arbeitslosengeld''). He has a brother named Youssef Elzein who was a bodybuilder and a champion of Lebanon seven times. Mahmoud's nephew Muhammed "Hamudi" Ali Al-Zein, 26-year-old son of Mahmoud's brother Ali al-Zein, who came in 1978 as a refugee from Lebanon to Germany, is a young promising heavyweight boxer from

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. In 2015 he became

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Mediterranean champion. Another nephew of Mahmoud, Mohamed Hassan Al-Zein, paid tribute to his uncle saying that Mahmoud is a role model for him and called his uncle a legend. His admiration culminated with the statement 'Best uncle in the world'.Mohamed Hassan El-Zein
inkphy.com

References

focus.de, 02.05.2005

berlinonline.de, 11.10.2005

tagesspiegel.de, 11.09. 1998

tagesspiegel.de, 14. 11. 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zein, Mahmoud Criminals from Berlin German crime bosses German extortionists German gangsters Living people Lebanese emigrants to Germany Organised crime in Germany 1966 births