Automatic weapons

Explosive arsenal of weapons uncovered during drug raid

Such weapons were seized from the suspect.(Bild: LPD NÖ)

The investigators were actually on the trail of drug dealers. In the district of Gänserndorf, they also caught three "growers" on their cannabis plantations - one of the suspects was also found to have weapons that fall under the Warfare Agents Act.

A married couple from the district of St. Pölten had sold cannabis to five customers in the region over the past two years. The couple and their customers were investigated and charged. The small-scale dealers had obtained the intoxicating herb from a gang that ran professional cannabis plantations in the Weinviertel region.

500 flowering cannabis plants 
During a raid in Strasshof an der Nordbahn, district of Gänserndorf, the investigators came across two already harvested plants and 500 cannabis plants in full bloom. Three kilograms of dried herbal cannabis were also seized.

Three suspects in custody
The head of the gang (45) and two accomplices - a Croatian (40) and a Bosnian (46) - were arrested in the act. Another suspect, who is said to have run one of the indoor plantations, is still on the run. A manhunt is underway for him.

Weapons hoarded despite ban 
Investigators also made an explosive discovery in the house of the 40-year-old Croatian in Angern an der March: several firearms subject to the War Weapons Act and automatic firearms were confiscated. The suspect was subject to a weapons ban.