A Dominican drug ring is said to have shipped more than 200 kilos of cocaine from the Caribbean to Austria in the past ten years. An important hub for the criminals was Linz, where the alleged main culprit also stayed again and again.
The first trial against four defendants, who are said to have appeared as contributors to courier and auxiliary services, began on Thursday in the courtroom of the Linz regional court. The main accused head of the gang will have to answer in court next week.
The accused quartet are men who were born in the Dominican Republic and who live in Linz. Three of them are Austrian citizens, all four have relevant previous convictions. Two of them are brothers. According to the public prosecutor, you worked in the organization “in a prominent position”. The representative of the prosecution referred to the multiple exceeding of the legal limits, which is why there is a risk of up to 15 years imprisonment.
With his confession, the main accused brother had contributed “not insignificantly” to the success of the investigation. He brought “light into the machinations”.
As reported, the drug was brought to Europe in two different ways. On the one hand hidden in key fobs in the form of miniature drums, on the other hand in the rods of trolley cases. Up to 700 grams of cocaine fit in a trolley and around ten grams in a key ring.The task of the henchmen was to pick up the freight from Schwechat Airport and bring it to a shop on Bulgariplatz in Linz, which also served as a parcel acceptance point. But several deliveries were intercepted at the airports in Cincinnati (USA) and Leipzig, for example, and never made it to their destination. The defendants are accused of attempted contribution.
But the defendant, of all people, who was supposed to “shed light on”, said differently at the hearing than in the preliminary proceedings with the police. Although he lived with the gang leader for a while in the Dominican Republic and sent parcels. “I didn’t know who would pick up the parcels.” He also “only bought” the key fobs, but “never held them in his hand when the cocaine was pressed into them.” He also received no money for it.
“Then it was all for nothing?” Asked the presiding judge. “I have prison now.”
The assistant judge almost burst his collar: “If you claim that you don’t know what’s in the suitcase and you don’t know what this or that person is doing, then that is not a confession.”
The prosecutor held up to the “key witness” what he had given to the criminal investigation department: “I held the drums in my hands at the press.” Now the accused no longer knew anything about it. “Is that really supposed to be a comprehensible responsibility?” Said the prosecutor.
There was no judgment in this case on Thursday.
Source: Nachrichten
