German investigators launched a series of raids throughout the country and detained seven persons believed to be linked with the murder of six Italian citizens in Duisburg earlier this month.

The police said vehicles and objects were seized during the crack-down that comprised several towns across Germany and especially in the Ruhr Area, near Duisburg where the Italians were shot dead on August 15.

Seven persons believed to have some knowledge of the incident or are indirectly linked were briefly detained for questioning, the police informed underlining that the persons are not suspects.

Five men aged between 16 and 39 were found dead in two vehicles near a restaurant in Duisburg, while another man died in an ambulance that was taking him to the hospital. A similar search operation was carried out at the victims’ residences in the days that followed the gruesome discovery.

Investigators are searching for two men allegedly responsible for the murders that took place in the parking lot of an Italian restaurant, about 100 metres from the city's central train station.

Dozens of people came to the police to share information that might take the policemen on the right path, as footage of the two men has been circulating on the internet.

The funeral of a victim took place on Friday in the city of Mülheim amid tight security measures. Dozens of people came to offer their condolences to the aggrieved family.

Neighbours that knew the 18-year-old boy and his friends characterized him as a “a lovely, quiet lad… that wouldn't harm a fly,” stressing that he couldn’t have been “involved with the Mafia.” 

The other five men were buried in their homeland on Thursday under the close supervision of numerous police forces and without the usual ceremony.

Media and investigators speculated that the Italians had ties with the 'Ndrangheta, an  organized crime association from Calabria, Italy. Reportedly, they have been victims of a war raging on for more than a decade between two clans: Pelle-Romeo (Pelle-Vottari) and Strangio-Nirta from San Luca.