Value of 4.5 million euros

19 arrests: Strike against the drug scene in Tyrol

Success for the Tyrolean police in the fight against the drug scene! After years of dealing cocaine and cannabis on a large scale, a total of 19 people have been arrested. Two arrests were made on Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning, Tyrol's regional police director Helmut Tomac, Katja Tersch, the head of the criminal investigation department, Karl Kraus, the district police commander of Kufstein, and Hansjörg Mayr, spokesman for the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office, appeared before the press and revealed details of the arrests.

According to them, intensive investigations have been carried out over the past few months. 17 people were arrested in Tyrol, two further arrests were made in Styria and Croatia.

35 kilograms of cocaine and 120 kilograms of cannabis
Persons associated with the drug ring are said to have trafficked around 35 kilograms of cocaine and 120 kilograms of cannabis since 2020. The investigation is still ongoing. So far, eight suspects have been remanded in custody.

Two people - who had only been arrested on Tuesday and had just returned from the Caribbean with cocaine - were brought before a magistrate on Wednesday morning. "We are looking for more people", said Mayr. Head of the State Office of Criminal Investigation Katja Tersch spoke of 21 people who are said to be involved.

Street value at 4.5 million euros
Investigators have so far identified four main suspects. These are two Croatians, a Bosnian and an Austrian aged between 28 and 39. A total of 17 men and two women are said to have been involved.

In September 2022, the LKA received a tip-off that a 39-year-old Bosnian was dealing in cocaine and cannabis and communicating via a crypto cell phone. A year earlier, a server had been seized in France as part of international cooperation. By analyzing 70,000 chats, the suspected drug dealers were finally tracked down.

According to Tomac, the street value of the drugs amounts to a total of around 4.5 million euros.