It’s about 40 million euros «kleinezeitung.at
According to the indictment, 13.8 million Captagon tablets to the value of 40 million euros were smuggled from Lebanon to the “stopover” in Austria. Pizzeria in Flachgau is said to have been used as a transshipment point.
4:42 p.m., December 14, 2021
Am Salzburg Regional Court started today, Tuesday, with great media interest, an extensive lawsuit for the trafficking of 13.8 million Captagon stimulant tablets. The presumed sales value of these pills is 40 million euros. to die 14 accused are alleged to be members of an international group of perpetrators, according to the indictment, the drugs smuggled from Lebanon to Austria from June 2016 to March 2021 Cap. 15 trial days are scheduled until January 26th.
Those concerned are eleven men and three women between the ages of 27 and 54. They come from the Arab region and Lebanon. Many of them are related to each other. Some of them lived in the city and state of Salzburg before they were arrested. As for citizenship, it is six Austrians, three Syrians, a Lebanese, a Belgian, a German, a Turkish and a Hungarian. THEY ARE charged with drug trafficking and the crime of the criminal organization. A suspect who is not in custody stayed away from the hearing today.
Austria actually only played the role of a stopover in this trade in Captagon pills – also known as the “jihadist drug”, which falls under the Addictive Substances Act. Umschlagplatz should be a Pizzeria in Bürmoos in Flachgau have been. According to the investigation, the Captagon was manufactured in Lebanon and War destined for Saudi Arabia. The detour via Europe only because imports from the EU in Saudi Arabia are apparently significantly less controlled than goods imports from the Middle East.
Drugs import via front company
The pills were hidden in cavities in rolls of plastic wrap. Up to 34,000 tablets were divided in each roll. The drugs were shipped by sea to Ghent in Belgium through a front company. From there they were brought to Austria by freight forwarders and distributed in warehouses, whereby the Flachgau pizzeria is said to have formed a central hub.
According to the indictment, the drugs were addictive hidden in industrial pizza ovens, washing machines and other electrical appliances and so shipped to Saudi Arabia. The restaurant in Flachgau is said to have been run by a 28-year-old defendant. A 53-year-old relative was responsible for the storage, repackaging and forwarding of the drugs, according to prosecutors. Other accused are said to have helped the first indictment.
As the head of the drug gang gilded one 60 year old Lebanesewho has been submerged. Some of the accused made confessions so that the investigators could prove at least three large drug deliveries, 25 to 30 tons of Captagon tablets are said to have been delivered. The drug has a stimulating effect similar to amphetamine and has often been linked to terrorist attacks, as it also makes the user appear fearless and insensitive to pain. The side effects can be fatal.
Interpreter was fired
A spicy detail: the main interpreter in the preliminary investigation is said to have been in a relationship with the key witness since June 2019. The prosecution’s indictment is based to a large extent on the information provided by the Iraqi living in Salzburg. He is said to have admitted to have been involved in the drug business and to have received a distraction in advance. The non-certified interpreter is said to have kept the relationship with him a secret. She was about two weeks ago deleted from the in-house interpreter list of the Salzburg Regional Court.
Defense attorneys deny allegations
The defense lawyers described the allegations as baseless. The focus of the counter-statements is the love affair between the key witness and the interpreter. “Everything she has translated is threatened with nullity,” said Defense attorney Leopold Hirsch. He requested a new translation of all the minutes that had been translated by the interpreter. They are biased according to the code of criminal procedure.
The other defense attorneys were in the same direction; there was also talk of the scandal and the unbelievability of the key witness. Lawyer Kurt Jelinek announces a criminal complaint. There is a suspicion that the interpreter did not translate everything or correctly. The prosecutor had previously emphasized that the translation of the translation was verifiable.
After the counter-statements, the presiding judge of the lay judge’s senate postponed the trial until tomorrow, Wednesday, to question the accused. It has not yet announced whether the logs will actually be re-translated. That would significantly delay the process. In the investigation, which lasted around three years, around 200,000 telephone calls were tapped, most of them in Arabic, and the interpreter who had come under criticism was translated.