Drug ring busted in southern Styria

The twelve drug dealers aged 24 to 49 are said to have sold, among other things, cocaine and heroin with a street value of more than one million euros between autumn 2022 and March 2024. Six people in the group – consisting of Austrians, Algerians and Turks – have already been convicted, five are still in custody. Around 40 consumers were reported.

The investigators had been on the trail of the perpetrators since the previous year, the Styria State Police Directorate said on Sunday. The twelve people from the Leibnitz and Graz districts were investigated using undercover police units and the Cobra task force. They were all arrested and the Graz public prosecutor also ordered 14 house searches. Half a kilogram of cocaine, 200 grams of heroin, countless blank guns and several thousand euros in cash were found.

The investigation also revealed that members of the group were responsible for a number of other crimes such as robbery, theft and serious bodily harm. Eleven of the twelve dealers were unemployed and probably earned their living from drug trafficking. They bought the drug from various suppliers in Graz. The drugs were then resold primarily in the Leibnitz party scene. In total there are said to have been more than eleven kilograms of cocaine, more than two kilograms of heroin and more than one kilogram of marijuana. There were also small amounts of amphetamines, ecstasy, hashish and ketamine.

Two of the suspects were also reported to the Leibnitz district administration for driving without a driving license: Together they are said to have completed around 500 trips without a “pink license”. In addition to the twelve people, consumers, mainly from the Leibnitz area, as well as middlemen were also investigated and reported.