2023-06-29 17:20:00
The police in Austria have secured a large arsenal of weapons from rockers who are attributed to the right-wing extremist scene. More than 70 long guns were found in Upper Austria and Lower Austria. Among them were machine guns and submachine guns, said the Director General for Public Safety, Franz Ruf, on Thursday in Vienna.
Legend: Austria’s police found weapons worth 1.5 million euros on right-wing extremists. APA/BMI
According to their own statements, the investigators also discovered around 100 pistols, 400 signal weapons, some of which were ready to fire, more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers and 1,000 weapon parts that would have been suitable for the production of 500 pistols.
«Conspiratorial Approach»
According to the authorities, the weapons had a total value of 1.5 million euros. Around 550 Nazi memorabilia such as medals, flags and writings, as well as 600,000 euros in cash were also seized.
According to the authorities, ten suspects have been arrested for violations of the weapons law, among other things. “The seizure of automatic weapons is an alarming indication of how dangerous this scene is,” said Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens).
The suspects, who are silent on the allegations according to the authorities, acted extremely conspiratorially, it said. In general, it can be observed that the scene is in a “professionalization spurt” and is trying to network more internationally than ever, said the head of the State Security and Intelligence Service (DNS), Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
Legal barriers to investigations
In 2022 there were 660 investigations, 100 house searches and 37 arrests in the right-wing extremist scene in Austria. The investigations against the rockers began after the investigators learned of the “Bandidos” group’s expansion plans to Austria in 2021.
Among those arrested was a “very senior leader” from a former neo-Nazi group. In view of the difficult investigations, the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Andreas Holzer, once again criticized the fact that the monitoring of messenger services was not legally possible in Austria.
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