Strike against cartels

73 arrests and 500 kilos of drugs seized

Hundreds of kilos of cannabis were built into pieces of furniture and transported to Austria.(Bild: Bundeskriminalamt)

The "AG Alpha-Pannonia" put a stop to 73 drug dealers in several operations. They transported narcotics, weapons and explosives through Europe, ran plantations and laboratories - and even killed opponents. The majority of the perpetrators, mainly from the Balkans, have already been convicted. 

The so-called AG Alpha-Pannonia has been investigating drug gangs operating in Europe for almost four years. Now it was time for the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK) to take stock of the cartels operating mainly in Styria, Burgenland and Vienna for the "Krone" newspaper. In cooperation with the judiciary, the police made a total of 73 arrests. The majority of the perpetrators come from Balkan countries (Austrians, Czechs, Slovaks, Germans and Turks were also caught) and have already been sentenced to prison terms of between three and 15 years.

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Styrian police also confiscated dangerous explosives
The "Alpha" and "Hexogen" operations led to 35 arrests via the Styrian Criminal Police Office. More than 218 kilograms of drugs, including heroin, cocaine, cannabis and synthetic narcotics, were seized, and two laboratories and large plantations were also busted. The perpetrators also transported 4.5 kilograms of explosives through Austria, some of them simply in cars, and were stopped not far from Graz. Incidentally, a contract killing was solved: in 2015, a gunman living in Graz shot the head of a hostile drug clan in Montenegro. He was arrested in Vienna.

We also need strict monitoring of messenger services in order to be able to work properly. We are not in tune with the times. In Europe, we are a Gallic village, only without the magic potion.

Bundeskriminalamtsdirektor Andreas Holzer

Albanians simply incorporated cannabis into furniture
The LKA Burgenland also contributed 38 arrests through the two operations "Pannonia" and "Vogue". A Serbian group of offenders smuggled cocaine and cannabis in trucks back and forth across half of Europe, their statements and the evaluation of traces then led to a group of Albanians who had hundreds of kilos of cannabis (483 kilos of herbal cannabis were confiscated) built into furniture cabinets by carpenters and then smuggled across the streets of Europe. Nine firearms and ten cars were also seized.

Appeal to politicians to monitor messenger services
Investigations are continuing - but BK boss Andreas Holzer is once again vehemently calling for the possibility of monitoring messenger services to be created: they are "out of step with the times", as the cartels that the "AG" broke up also communicated in this way. According to their boss, the Austrian investigators are among the best at their craft. For technical possibilities, which would be necessary above all in the fight against organized crime, the ball is in the politicians' court.