BERLIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Following a wedding parade that had blocked a German highway, several dozen task forces of the German police searched seven residential buildings in the Wesel area, the police in Dusseldorf announced on Friday.
The concerted police deployment was linked to the so-called "Donut" investigating commission of the Dusseldorf police, named after the driving maneuver in which cars revolve around themselves with smoking tires.
At the end of March, drivers of several luxury limousines had brought traffic to a standstill on the heavily trafficked Autobahn 3 in the direction of Cologne.
Following the standstill, the drivers in the wedding parade had proceeded to take photos on the German highway, according to the Dusseldorf police.
"Weddings are situations in life that should be celebrated. Anyone who thinks they are blocking motorways and putting others' lives at risk must expect us, as the police, to take consistent action against them," said Norbert Wesseler, head of the Dusseldorf police headquarters.
The German police announced that they had found "extensive evidence" during the searches.
Among other things, the German task forces had seized "various storage media, mobile phones and computers," as well as "narcotics and presumed illegal drugs," according to the police statement.
As the Dusseldorf police headquarters announced that the investigating commission "Donut" was still evaluating the extensive evidence found on Friday by task forces that included special units and riot police officers.
According to the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior, the police listed 122 occasions of deployment between April 1 and mid-May due to wedding parades on public streets.
Back in mid-April, NRW's Minister for the Interior Herbert Reul had announced his intentions to take stronger actions against the growing trend of wedding parades.
"Motorways and inner cities are not private ballrooms," Reul said, adding that "everyone must abide by the applicable rules, otherwise the police will very quickly put a sobering end to the celebration".
"When wedding parties endanger themselves and other road users, the tolerance limits of our society are clearly exceeded," said the German minister.
