Bosses were in the port – cocaine from South America: police arrest drug gang

It all started with a ‘small’ street dealer who wanted to sell cocaine and heroin in a club in Klagenfurt. After being tipped off by a bouncer, the handcuffs clicked on the 23-year-old. “At that time we had no idea what dimensions this access would take,” said Chief Inspector Gottlieb Stepsser of the Klagenfurt city police command in an interview with the “Krone”.

At first the traces led to “small quantities”, then there were seizures of up to 300 grams – until the big “showdown” came: a kilo of cocaine was to be handed over in a building in the center of Klagenfurt. As the “Krone” learned from research circles, it was founded by Carinthian undercover researchers.

It was a heavy operation: not only the suspects were monitored; the strictly hierarchical drug gang itself kept a close eye on the transfer site and the surrounding area with the help of scouts. Nevertheless, with the support of the Cobra task force, the investigators managed to put handcuffs on everyone involved.

Network structured strictly hierarchically
“A delicate entrance. In addition to the Austrian drug courier and two Serbian dealers, a bodyguard was also present who monitored the handover with a loaded weapon (Beretta, editor’s note),” said Stepsser. But everything went according to plan. And thanks to targeted telephone surveillance and investigations, the strictly hierarchical network was gradually deciphered and broken down.

The trail led to prison
And the tracks eventually led to the two suspected masterminds of the Balkan ‘poison network’ – to the Karlau prison in Graz. Where two well-known suspects who originally lived in Carinthia (a Slovenian and an Austrian with Croatian roots) were already “locked up” for drug and violent crimes, but still continued their criminal activities from the cells.

And according to information from “Krone”, this happened with the support of a prison guard who allegedly provided the duo with the necessary mobile phones. And with that, the suspected drug bosses pulled the strings via courier services. Under the pseudonym ‘Samo Jako’ – also the later operational name of the successful police attack.

The woman as a key person
The two bosses made sure to communicate with only one person. Namely with a Slovenian suspect who was based in Laibach – and officially financed her livelihood as an employee, but “next door” functioned as a link and junction. And organized drug smuggling across the borders of Carinthia and Styria on behalf of the two port brothers. The handcuffs finally clicked for them too.

Thanks to the leading Carinthian investigators and their Styrian colleagues, there were eventually a total of 21 other suspected members of the gang, which probably operated throughout Austria and was controlled from the Balkans. And where most of the income would have flowed back. A very professionally managed and structured cartel that has been smuggling and selling 17.1 kg of heroin, 39.1 kg of cocaine, 19 kg of cannabis, three kg of “speed” and 1000 ecstasy tablets (mainly by car) to Austria since December 2022. Total profit: 5.2 million euros!

And the drug was of very high quality, with purity up to 100 percent in some cases. It is still uncertain where the synthetic drugs, which are actually atypical for Balkan gangs, came from, but the cocaine certainly comes from South America. From where the white powder was smuggled via sea containers.

Father and son as dealers
Interesting: ‘real’ Austrians were also involved in the network. Like a young resident of Klagenfurt who financed his unemployed life by dealing. And in whose apartment the investigators seized drugs, 25,000 euros in cash and a loaded pistol. Also of the Beretta type. And even a ‘franchise partner’ of the family was exposed, according to information from ‘Krone’: A father-son team from Klagenfurt had made significant extra money by reselling heroin. This access also marked the conclusion of the previous studies.