A major Austrian narcotics ring dubbed the ”Grandpa Gang” because of the advanced age of its members sold about €5,2-million-worth of drugs in recent years, police said on Monday.
Vienna officials said they have arrested 23 suspected members since October and seized large quantities of cocaine, amphetamines, hashish and marijuana in a raid on a hairdresser salon in Vienna, police Major Martin Roudny told the Austria Press Agency.
Police have dubbed the ring the ”Grandpa Gang” because most of its members were in their fifties and sixties.
Detectives also confiscated about €96 000 in cash and several firearms in a raid last month that frightened the 57-year-old alleged ringleader so much that he suffered a heart attack, Roudny said.
The suspect, whose name was not released in line with Austrian privacy laws, was being treated in a prison hospital.
Some of the suspects allegedly pooled their earnings to buy a yacht they shared on relaxing vacations on the Mediterranean, and others lost up to €7 000 a night in all-night gambling sprees, prosecutors said.
The suspects, who procured the drugs from The Netherlands, also were being investigated in a murder case, authorities said. They did not elaborate on details of the case. — Sapa-AP