Cannabis plantations

Father sends his own children to deal drugs

The family business in front of the senate of lay judges at Eisenstadt Regional Court.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

A special kind of family business in Burgenland: a 48-year-old cultivated 400 cannabis plants in his backyard for over five years. His profit amounted to 91,000 euros - also and above all because his daughter and son sold the substance throughout the district. 

Because the daughter, now 28, had been addicted to drugs since the age of 12, the father (48) started growing cannabis at home in 2019. "If we hadn't done it, she would have got the stuff somewhere else. But the stuff is diluted! Then she might have poisoned herself," says the man from Central Burgenland, before finally admitting that he had cultivated the trade for profit. "And yes, the children were used as salesmen."

150 euros as "commission" for the children
Until summer 2024, there were four growings per year. A total of 400 plants thrived. 16 kilos were harvested and packaged. The daughter sold 10 kilos, the son (21) 4 kilos from the age of 18. The father had always prepared the 50 gram portions and received 350 euros each from the children. They were left with 150 as "commission".

High expenses for electricity
The parents' additional income - the mother (51) worked as a harvest helper - amounted to 91,000 euros over these five years. "But I also had high expenses for electricity," said the father before the lay assessor's court in Eisenstadt. Like his wife and daughter, he was brought to the trial from custody.

An increasingly loud dialog ensues between the presiding judge, Birgit Falb, and the mastermind. "It is morally extremely reprehensible that you flooded the entire district with your drugs." - "It couldn't have been avoided, no matter what we did." - "And if you hadn't been arrested, you would have continued to grow for the next 20 years, wouldn't you?" - "I wanted to stop!" - "Why?" - "Because you can see where it leads, namely here in court." - "Can you actually still look at yourself in the mirror?"

Prison sentences are imposed
After extensive deliberation, the father is sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, the mother to 2.5 years and the son to 12 months. Only the 2.5 years in prison for the daughter are already legally binding. The time spent in custody since June will of course be taken into account.