With a drug cocktail

Several dating victims drugged and robbed

Symbol photo

(Bild: dpa/Achim Scheidemann (Symbolbild))

Four Hungarians - one man and three women - are said to have lured ten men (aged 56 to 85) in five federal states into a Venus trap via a dating platform, drugged them with drinks and then robbed them. The damage amounts to around 90,000 euros. The police are expecting many more victims.

Vienna-Döbling, Vienna-Donaustadt, Vienna-Leopoldstadt, Linz, Wels (both Upper Austria), Ramsau (Styria), St. Veit an der Glan (Carinthia), Güssing (Burgenland) - a total of ten men from five federal states reported to the police between September and November 2023. According to the story, they had met Hungarian women in their apartments and houses who they had previously met on a serious dating platform. However, they could no longer remember much.

Benzodiazepine in the drinks
The men, aged between 56 and 85, ignored the fact that the Hungarian women did not look like the photos they had previously seen. They were too distracted by the not unattractive Venus traps. They waited until their hosts had to go to the toilet, then mixed a cocktail of benzodiazepine and other drugs into the men's drinks. According to Major Armin Kuric from the Northern Branch of the Vienna State Criminal Police Office, some of the victims only woke up the next day - complete with dizzy spells that caused them to fall.

The drug mixture was mixed into drinks. (symbolic photo)

(Bild: dpa/Achim Scheidemann (Symbolbild))

Watches, jewelry and cash in their sights
Meanwhile, the women informed acquaintances who were waiting in their cars outside the houses. They took everything that was not nailed down from the victims, even tearing a wall safe from its moorings. The gang's main targets were watches, jewelry and money. Their track record is mixed. The Hungarians only took 50 euros from a man from Döbling, while a man from Linz lost 33,500 euros and a man from Donaustadt 23,200 euros. The total loss amounts to around 90,000 euros. At least the one we know about. The police are asking all other possible victims to come forward immediately.

We ask any other potential victims not to feel ashamed of what has happened. Please report it to the police immediately.

Major Armin Kuric vom Landeskriminalamt Wien

Arrests in Vienna and Linz
The photograph of a suspect was secured - in cooperation with criminalists from Budapest, a 43-year-old Hungarian woman was finally identified and arrested in Vienna. While she confessed extensively, two compatriots arrested in Linz (a 52-year-old man and his 28-year-old partner) denied any involvement in the crime.

Homemade drug mixture
Another Hungarian woman (23) is said to have been present during one of the crimes. During house searches, the vial with the homemade drug mixture and looted property turned up. Some of the victims are still suffering from the after-effects of the deceitful robberies.