The 37-year-old German and her 41-year-old partner from Pongau have been in custody since March. As the police informed on Tuesday, the woman is said to have brought around nine kilograms of crystal meth to Austria since 2012 before she was arrested. Her boyfriend supported the drug trade in order to finance the two’s own consumption and the woman’s gambling addiction.
The St. Johann District Criminal Police Service has been investigating the two suspects since the end of 2021. The focus was not only on drug trafficking and a criminal organization, but also on social benefit fraud and the illegal use of someone else’s ID cards. Because the two main suspects apparently received unemployment benefits and parental leave benefits despite their income from the drug trade, they were also charged with social benefit fraud.
Son was also involved
At the beginning of March 2022, the German woman, her 17-year-old son and his boyfriend of the same age were arrested after they were smuggling crystal meth (methamphetamine) from the Czech Republic to Austria. The two youths were later released and reported. At the same time, the 41-year-old unemployed Pongauer and a 29-year-old accomplice were arrested in their apartments in Schwarzach and Wagrain. During the house search on March 6th at the couple and the 29-year-old, the police found numerous suspicious objects.
The investigators also researched a total of 64 drug buyers in the districts of St. Johann im Pongau, Zell am See, Hallein, Salzburg, Salzburg area (Flachgau) and also in the district of Braunau in Upper Austria. The suspects were reported under the Narcotics Act. Several accomplices helped the couple obtain crystal meth over time by making themselves available for trips together or by lending them their cars. The accomplices are said to have received five grams of crystal meth free of charge per trip in return.
Brought from the Czech Republic to Austria
In addition to introducing around nine kilograms of crystal meth, the German is also accused of selling around 350 grams of crystal meth and unknown quantities of herbal cannabis and amphetamine to drug buyers every year. According to the police, the accused woman has admitted that she has imported 15 to 30 grams of crystal meth from the Czech Republic to Austria on around 40 procurement trips since 2020 and sold these drugs and herbal cannabis to buyers.
Her partner is accused of dealing crystal meth, amphetamine and herbal cannabis with the German from his relationship with the 37-year-old in 2014 until his arrest in March. Furthermore, the Pongauer is said to have carried out procurement trips for crystal meth himself and sold drugs. The 29-year-old accomplice from Pongau is said to have participated in more than ten drug trips from the Czech Republic to Austria from October 2021 to his arrest in March 2022 and imported around 300 grams of crystal meth. He was reported at large.
Source: Nachrichten
