Serbs are the leaders of drug smuggling in Austria
Serbian drug gangs have taken control of drug smuggling and sales in Austria. According to Serbian Euronews, citing information from the Austrian Federal Police’s criminal intelligence service, “Serbian crime groups, along with other groups in the Western Balkans, have long been leaders in the field of criminal activity.”
This change in criminal circles, they note in the Austrian service, has been recorded since 2017 and 2018, when there was a change in leadership.
“African criminal groups, mostly from Nigeria, are withdrawing more and more, Serbian groups are taking over the street trade,” reported Serbian media.
As Euronews Serbia writes, this criminal intelligence service points out that Serbian citizens are massively involved in the drug trafficking in Austria, but also worldwide. When asked about the number of Serbs involved in drug trafficking, the Austrian police stated that in 2021 a total of 1,062 suspects were reported under the Narcotics Act in Austria. Of these, 394 were charged with criminal offenses carrying a prison sentence of more than three years and 668 with administrative offenses carrying a prison sentence of up to three years.
“The dark numbers are higher. Keep in mind that there are many Serbian citizens and their descendants living in Austria, the vast majority of whom are law-abiding citizens or immigrants,” Austrian police told Euronews Serbia, stressing that “without counterparts in the Balkans, the fight against organized crime for the police authorities of Western Europe would be extremely difficult.”
Balkan route
Serbian criminal groups are mainly involved in the transport of cocaine, heroin and herbal cannabis, they note in this service. When asked how drugs get to Austria, the police state that the so-called “Balkan route” is certainly one of the most prominent for drug trafficking to Central and Western Europe. Drugs tend to arrive that way, with Vienna playing the biggest role, although there are also links to other Austrian states.
More drugs than in Escobar’s day
Speaking to the Austrian public service ORF, the head of the anti-drugs division of the Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office, Daniel Lichtenegger, explains that new record numbers of cocaine are seized in European ports every year and that Colombian farmers are producing more white powder than in Pablo Escobar’s time.
According to Europol, 2,000 tons of cocaine are produced in Colombia every year, and more than 60 percent of the substance consumed worldwide is reported to come from South America, with 40 percent from Colombia. This makes Colombia the largest cocaine producer in the world, where the drug is the most important export product, reports ORF.