"He's kicking in doors"

Emergency Call Over a Dispute Led to Drug Dealer’s Arrest

The accused is now being held in pretrial detention at the Ried Correctional Facility.(Bild: Christoph Gantner)

A domestic dispute with his ex-partner ultimately led to the arrest of a drug smuggler and dealer from the Innviertel region. He is believed to have picked up large quantities of narcotics at package pickup stations and brought them into Austria. He is now being held in pretrial detention at the Ried Correctional Facility. 

Officers from the Coordinated Criminal Investigation Unit of the Ried District Police Command were able to prove that a 46-year-old man from the Ried district was engaged in commercial drug trafficking in quantities that exceeded the limits set by the Border Quantities Regulation on multiple occasions.

Argument Led to Arrest
On February 8, 2026, the suspect was arrested in the Utzenaich area following a prior argument with his ex-partner. “The partner had called the police emergency number because the suspect was rampaging through her house and had kicked in two doors. She also suspected that he was stashing narcotics there, which turned out to be true,” said Alois Ebner, spokesperson for the Ried im Innkreis District Attorney’s Office.

Criminal investigations into the suspect had already been underway prior to this incident on charges of commercial drug trafficking. During a search of his residence, various narcotics, cutting agents, and drug-selling paraphernalia were seized.

Drugs at Package Pickup Stations
Further investigations revealed that the 46-year-old is alleged to have operated a lucrative drug trafficking ring in collaboration with middlemen from Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria; he is believed to have served as a hub for the drug trafficking operation. Following orders placed on the dark web, the drug shipments were likely sent by intermediaries in Germany to package stations in the German-Austrian border region.

Smuggled and Resold
From there, the 46-year-old is alleged to have smuggled the narcotics across the border and then transported them to his home address. He is then alleged to have divided the packages into smaller portions for further distribution throughout Austria and shipped them again. Small quantities of the drug packages are said to have been set aside and sold to customers as well as other drug dealers directly from the accused’s personal circle in the districts of Ried im Innkreis and Schärding.

Numerous Substances Sold
It was proven that the 46-year-old likely supplied two other drug distributors and at least 15 drug buyers with the narcotics he had obtained. The drugs in question included methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, cannabis resin, and cannabis herb, as well as ketamine.

Suspect is in pretrial detention
The investigation and the subsequent arrest were carried out by the Coordinated Criminal Investigation Unit of Ried im Innkreis in close cooperation with the Upper Austrian State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of the Ried im Innkreis District Attorney’s Office. The suspect is currently being held at the Ried im Innkreis Correctional Facility. All suspects accused of drug trafficking, as well as any potential drug buyers, have been reported to the competent Ried im Innkreis District Attorney’s Office.