Value: 50,000 euros

Drug dealer stole amethyst weighing 1.5 tons

People queued up to help the suspected dealer and amethyst thief (left).(Bild: HS, Krone KREATIV)

Trial in Eisenstadt: The "Don Pablo of southern Burgenland" is said to have trafficked kilos of cocaine and stolen a 1.5-ton amethyst. The defendant denies the latter, claiming that he wanted to return the valuable mineral. But: "Unfortunately, the forklift truck was broken" 

It was almost time for the fan club to put up banners! Room 8 at the Eisenstadt regional court was packed. Relatives and sympathizers of the "Don Pablo of southern Burgenland", as he likes to call himself - presumably in reference to the drug wholesaler Escobar from Colombia - wanted to listen to the 41-year-old German's justifications. He is said to have sold kilos of cocaine for years, including to young people and apprentices. "As far as that is concerned, I plead guilty. The only thing is: the quantities aren't right. I'm innocent on the other point."

This is what a (small) amethyst looks like.(Bild: Antal Imre)

The other point? He allegedly stole six Persian carpets, two hand-carved eagles and a 1.5-ton amethyst worth 50,000 from a disabled engineer. "Not true," says the accused. "The man asked me to take the things out of the house for him and store them in his garage. But there was no room there. I then took the amethyst that I should have sold for him to me in a shed."

A helping hand for the engineer
The items, let's call them "temporarily stored", were always in the possession of this client. "I could have returned them to him at any time," says the German, who cannot understand the accusations: "We had a good relationship. I repaired his roof and also fixed a few things on his car," says the unemployed father of three. The chairwoman of the jury now wanted to know why he had not returned the amethyst despite several requests. "Unfortunately, the forklift truck was broken."

The trial will go into extra time on January 24, until then the man will remain in custody. It will then also have to be clarified whether the man actually only sold 1.8 kilos of cocaine. Initial witnesses reported much larger quantities.