Heroin from the Balkan route

Where the drugs on our streets come from

Sniffer dogs should sniff out drugs at border controls.

(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

A 51-year-old man is said to have brought a kilo of heroin and crystal meth from Turkey to Austria every month. This is not an isolated case: the drugs that are trafficked in this country are mostly imports. The "Krone" asked where the illegal substances come from and how they find their way to us.

Two recent examples show the cases that drug investigators are dealing with: a Serbian dealer (37) was reportedly handcuffed in Wels in Upper Austria after more than half a kilo of heroin was found in his apartment. And a 51-year-old will stand trial in Linz next week - he is said to have brought 500 grams of heroin and 500 grams of crystal meth into the country from Turkey every month by transporting the drugs himself or hiring suppliers.

"The frightening thing is that this is our daily business," says Rupert Ortner, head of the narcotics group at the Upper Austrian State Criminal Police Office (LKA). Most of the narcotics that are in circulation here are "imported". The "Krone" interviewed the chief investigator and the addiction and drug coordinator of the state of Upper Austria, Thomas Schwarzenbrunner, about where the illegal goods come from.