Twelve arrests in Vorarlberg for drug trafficking
Published: Tuesday, Jan 23rd 2024, 15:30
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Twelve people were arrested in 13 simultaneous house searches in Vorarlberg, neighboring Switzerland and Styria on Tuesday morning. They are suspected of dealing around 100 kilos of cocaine and half a ton of cannabis.
Drugs and firearms were among the items seized during the house searches, the police in Austria announced on Tuesday. The police operation with over 180 officers was preceded by years of investigations.
Eleven Austrian and one Croatian citizen aged between 26 and 66 were arrested. According to the police, two of them are leading members of a rocker group based in Vorarlberg. They were all arrested on the basis of European arrest warrants issued by the public prosecutor's offices in Feldkirch and Leoben. They are accused of having trafficked drugs on a large scale in recent years.
Sales and production also in Switzerland
The suspects allegedly obtained the cocaine mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium and sold it in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Cannabis was imported from Spain, but was also cultivated in their own plantations in Switzerland and Austria. Investigators tracked down the suspects through the international analysis of so-called crypto messenger services.
During house searches, narcotics, firearms and ammunition, large amounts of cash, several high-value vehicles as well as data carriers and documents were seized. The eight people arrested in Vorarlberg were taken to Feldkirch prison by order of the public prosecutor's office.
Extradition requests have been sent to Switzerland for three Austrians arrested in Switzerland. One suspect was arrested in Styria. The police estimate that further investigations by the Bregenz State Criminal Police Office will take months.
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