“I only ordered medicines for hair loss,” a 35-year-old claimed in a court in Klagenfurt. But there was something completely different in the mail: gift boxes with prayer rugs – and drugs worth more than 3.2 million euros! The crystal meth comes from Iran and was destined for Japan.
The suspect has been living in Austria for eight years and came here in 2015 with the refugee flow. “I have always worked well as soon as I had asylum status,” says the Iranian and tells the Farsi interpreter in detail about his beautiful apartment with a girlfriend in Villach. But the world of the 35-year-old is not so safe: he has been addicted to drugs for eleven years and, according to the Klagenfurt public prosecutor’s office, is part of a globally organized crystal meth gang. “I only ordered hair restorer,” the man sighs.
“Breaking Bad” in Kärnten
Crystal meth is a cheap synthetic drug that is flooding the market, especially in the US, Australia and Asia. They also know serial junkies from “Breaking Bad”, where a chemistry teacher with cancer starts producing methamphetamine in his lab and becomes a drug lord. “The substance is extremely dangerous,” warns a researcher. Even the fumes during production can get you high and there is also a risk of explosion. In Austria, the police and customs are on hand to prevent meth deals in time.
Cobra use in mail delivery
This was also achieved in Carinthia a few months ago. Suspicious packages from Armenia were discovered in the postal distribution center in Vienna, all of which were supposed to go to the suspect in Villach. In a fictitious transfer, the Cobra task force arrived to apprehend the suspect. With the mail were gift boxes – with a prayer rug, a vase and a table runner. And it contained a total of 3.2 kilos of meth that would go to Japan via Villach. “One gram has a black market value of 1,000 euros there,” the public prosecutor reports. “So we are talking about a coup of more than 3 million euros!”
Four years in prison, not final
The defendant argues that everything must be a substitution. However, he does not know how his name, address and telephone number got on the packages. The jury panel headed by Judge Christian Liebhauser does not believe him – four years in prison. “We assume you are just a small cog – but without these cogs the big gangs can’t work!”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
