Drug crime is increasingly shifting to the Internet, and groups from the Western Balkans have taken over the “command” of street sales. Therefore, there will continue to be a focus on cyberdealers and on the Western Balkans, announced Interior Minister Karner. Cannabis legalization, as is being prepared in Germany, “will not exist here,” said Karner when asked. “We think that’s completely the wrong way,” said the ÖVP politician.
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The drug report in detail:
Reports under the Narcotic Substances Act (SMG) fell in 2021, also in the second year of the Covid pandemic. 34,837 cases were 13.6 percent fewer than the year before. In 2021, around 2.1 tonnes of cannabis products, 81 kilograms of cocaine, 72 kilograms of heroin, 83 kilograms of amphetamine and 10.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, as well as 181 kilograms of khat and around 53,000 pieces of ecstasy were seized. This emerges from the report on addictive substances presented by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) on Thursday. Cannabis product seizures increased from just under to just over 2.1 tonnes. The increase in the quantities seized was more significant for amphetamine from 36.8 to 83.4 kilos and for cocaine from 63 to 80.5 kilos. Heroin, ecstasy tablets and khat saw significant declines.
“It’s about protecting the public”
Of the 34,837 reports under the SMG, 31,623 were misdemeanors and 3,214 were crimes punishable by more than three years imprisonment. Despite the decline in reports, the number of crimes increased slightly by 0.6 percent. In 2019 there were 43,329 reports, of which 3,407 were crimes. In the first year of the pandemic, 2020, there were 40,299 ads.
There was a significant drop in offenses compared to the previous year, and it was primarily “possession and consumption offences,” explained Brigadier Daniel Lichtenegger, chief investigator for drug-related crime at the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK). “The police are not concerned with sanctioning everyone, but with protecting the population.” On average, six people are arrested every day for more serious offenses under the Narcotic Substances Act (SMG), he emphasized. “It is crucial to smash the large criminal structures,” said Karner at the press conference.
Search for drug godfather Schabel
According to the Minister of the Interior, it can be observed that drug-related crime is increasingly shifting to the Internet. An estimated 20 percent of purchases are already made online, and the trend is rising – probably also due to the pandemic. The BK has its own investigative group dealing with online drug trafficking. As a result, according to Karner, two groups of criminals were investigated last year who had sold a total of 175 kilos of narcotic drugs to thousands of buyers. A main perpetrator is still being sought, Lichtenegger referred to the 50-year-old Viennese Martin Schabel, who was wanted as a suspected drug godfather, who had been put under arrest worldwide last month.
The number of domestic suspects has increased slightly since 2017 and reached 70 percent in 2021. However, one in two of the more serious suspects suspected of crimes under the SMG is a non-Austrian citizen. Lichtenegger reported that while it used to be perpetrators from Africa who dealt in public spaces, groups from the Western Balkans have now taken over the streets. The degree of purity of the drugs sold has also changed, some of which have increased significantly, but the price has remained the same, the investigator explained.
“Drug trafficking is the largest line of business for organized crime, alongside smuggling and human trafficking,” said Karner. This would make big profits and also finance terrorism, and the “dirty business” is also closely linked to the arms trade. Drug trafficking affects public safety and leads to around 200 drug-related deaths in Austria every year.
Interior Minister Karner’s statement:
Brigadier Lichtenegger’s statement:
Journalists’ questions:
Source: Nachrichten
