Student as smuggler

Tempting offer ends in court for couple

A 29-year-old man checked 33 kilograms of cannabis in two suitcases.

(Bild: zVg)

A British couple are trembling in the dock at Korneuburg Regional Court (Lower Austria). They tried to smuggle kilos of cannabis from Thailand to Amsterdam - with a stopover in Vienna. "I wanted to use this money for my tuition fees," says the 29-year-old. The sentences against him and his girlfriend were lenient.

Hand in hand, a young British couple sits in the dock at Korneuburg Regional Court (Lower Austria). The 29-year-old has to hold back his tears. He has been in custody in Austria since July 21 - the day his suitcases containing a total of 33 kilograms of cannabis were discovered at Vienna-Schwechat Airport.

10,000 euros for drug smuggling
"I met a guy in a pub in London," he says. He offered him 10,000 euros to smuggle the drugs from Thailand to Amsterdam - the actual destination of the addictive drug. Vienna was just a fatal stopover ...

"These are not the classic drug smugglers"
He never received the money. Instead, he and his girlfriend - who was also in Thailand with him - are now sitting before a jury. They are facing 15 years in prison. "These are not the classic drug smugglers," says lawyer Dominik Wild, referring to his client (24), a customer service consultant who only paid for the plane ticket for her boyfriend, and the older business student.

It is primarily about students who are offered the prospect of checking in a suitcase and receiving a lot of money for it. Young people are being shamelessly exploited.

Anwalt Alexander Prenner vertritt den 29-jährigen Drogenschmuggler

"I wanted to use this money for my tuition fees," explains the 29-year-old, defended by lawyer Alexander Prenner. The four years at a British university cost him 100,000 euros. This makes him exactly the target of those behind such drug smuggling, notes Prenner: "It's primarily about students who are offered the prospect of checking in a suitcase and getting a lot of money for it. Young people are being shamelessly exploited."

The lawyers Alexander Prenner and Dominik Wild.

(Bild: SP)

Like the British couple, others were also recruited using the same modus operandi. "The result is that quite a few have turned up recently. People used to have a few packets of cannabis between their dirty laundry. But now the whole suitcase is full. I assume that there have been 20 to 30 cases this summer," said the presiding judge.

Partial imprisonment and minimum sentence
And that is precisely why: "General prevention is the most important point here. That is why the defendant is not going home today," said Ms. Rat, explaining the decision of the panel of lay judges. The 29-year-old was given 30 months' part-time imprisonment. "There are enough people in need who don't commit criminal acts." He actually has to spend six months in prison - he has already served three and a half in pre-trial detention. His girlfriend gets off with the minimum sentence of one year conditionally. Her contribution to the crime was only very minor. 

Touching scene in the courtroom
After the verdict was announced, tears flowed: the young couple hugged each other in relief - the first time they had done so since the student's arrest. This also seems to move the prison officer, who gives them an extra minute to say goodbye before the 29-year-old is taken back to the prison. He can already apply for release after serving three quarters of his sentence. He will probably be back in England by Christmas.