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19. 03. 10. - 15:00

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19. 03. 10. - 15:00

Graz police smash drug ring

An Iranian asylum seeker thought to be the boss of a drug-dealing gang has been arrested along with 11 cohorts, police said today (Fri).

Police said the gang had been selling the drug substitol after two members had transported it to Graz from Vienna.

The tip that led police to the gang came from two female drug addicts who told them last year they had purchased substitol from the Iranian, 38.

Police said the gang, which communicated with customers by SMS, had sold the drug to at least 100 people. They added the Iranian had sold 20,000 substitol tablets with a street value of around 700,000 Euros since summer 2008.

Graz police have arrested 60 substitol dealers in the past three years.

Meanwhile, new ideas on the Viennese drug problem by Freedom Party (FPÖ) boss Heinz-Christian Strache are set to cause controversy.

The right-winger called on Wednesday for the relocation of addicts’ care centres from the city centre to the suburbs.

Strache claimed drug addicts and dealers were "lured" to city centre areas by such centres – where addicts get clean syringes and counselling. He referred to a centre at the pedestrian underpass on Karls Square, the capital’s busiest public transport hub and an infamous crime and drug abuse hotspot.

Speaking about areas such as Karls Square, Strache said: "As a pedestrian, you struggle to make your way through the drug-dealing gangs hanging around there."

Strache again called for more police officers on Viennese streets and revealed the plan for a "special anti-drug force" for the capital to battle drug-dealing more efficiently.

The FPÖ chief promised 1,000 additional cops and a 500-member "security troop" if he becomes mayor in this autumn’s city elections.

Public opinion research agencies say the FPÖ will garner around 20 per cent after winning 14.8 per cent in the last election in 2005. The Social Democrats (SPÖ) led by Mayor Michael Häupl will try to defend their absolute majority.

Austrian Times

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