"Poison" from Slovenia

Smuggling by train: police break up heroin gang

For over three years, a trio allegedly smuggled heroin from Slovenia across the border to Carinthia by car and train and sold it in Klagenfurt. Now the handcuffs clicked at the train station in Villach.

Since 2021, a Kosovar man (37) living in Klagenfurt, a Slovenian woman (27) also living in the provincial capital and a Carinthian from the Wolfsberg district are said to have built up a lucrative drug business. With the support of at least four other Slovenian suspects who belong to a drug mafia and are said to have transferred the illegal goods to their home country.

According to the investigation, the main suspect, a Kosovar, was responsible for smuggling the heroin across the border, transporting it either by car or by train to Austrian soil. He and his accomplices then sold it for a profit to at least twelve end customers in the city of Klagenfurt.

Continued dealing despite imprisonment
According to investigators, a total of 2.5 kilos of heroin with a street value of more than 100,000 euros had ended up on the market through the trio since 2021. Only once did the illegal operation have to close for six weeks. That was when the alleged head of the gang and responsible smuggler was in prison - for grievous bodily harm. Two days after his release, however, he was already back on a "business trip" in Slovenia.

Recently, however, the Kosovar's journey came to an end - in the truest sense of the word: after another "shopping trip" across the border, the 37-year-old was awaited by investigators at Villach main station on his train journey home and placed in handcuffs. He had hidden 30 g of heroin in his underpants. The main suspect was returned to his cell, his suspected accomplices were released.