Trial in Feldkirch

Drugs smuggled into Austria in a car

The main defendant with his lawyer immediately before the trial at Feldkirch Regional Court.(Bild: Chantall Dorn)

Since Wednesday, two men living in Vorarlberg have been on trial at Feldkirch Regional Court for drug trafficking. However, the most important witness has disappeared without a trace.

Both are heavily in debt and both needed money. So the offer to earn an extra 2,000 euros with "trips to Holland" came at just the right time. At least that is how the main defendant describes the situation. He claims not to have known that these were drug courier trips. The case concerns almost 20 kilograms of cannabis, one kilo of amphetamine and 1000 ecstasy tablets, which the first defendant, a 38-year-old Bosnian, is alleged to have smuggled from Holland to Vorarlberg between May and July of this year and passed on or resold.

The drugs were transported across the border in a total of five tranches in prepared cars. The second defendant, a 44-year-old Austrian with a migration background, is considered a contributory offender as he had made his car available to the first defendant. According to the prosecutor, the accomplice also allegedly removed the cannabis smuggled in the car in a workshop and handed it over to the first defendant.

If found guilty, the men could face up to 15 years in prison. The two defendants were targeted by the police partly due to incriminating statements made by a dealer who had previously been kidnapped due to drug debts. However, as the now main witness has since gone into hiding, it was announced early on Wednesday afternoon after a two-hour hearing that the trial would be adjourned indefinitely.