Drug ring in Braunau dismantled: six arrests, children removed
Investigators shut down an extensive drug operation in the Braunau district – involving a cannabis plantation, weapons and alleged sexual offences. Six people were arrested, with several children taken into care.
Drug ring in Braunau district dismantled – children removed from child-endangering circumstances
After months of investigation, police have dismantled an extensive drug operation in the Upper Austrian district of Braunau. According to Google News AT — Crime (de), six people have been arrested to date, with five remanded in custody. The investigation began with a tip from the Simbach border police inspection, which came in to the Braunau Coordinated Criminal Service in March 2026.
In early April 2026, officers conducted a search of a residential house in the Braunau district on the order of the State Prosecutor's Office Ried im Innkreis. In the cellar, they discovered a professionally operated cannabis plantation with capacity for at least 200 plants. Approximately 1.6 kilograms of marijuana, synthetic narcotics and various bladed and stabbing weapons were seized.
Found in the house were a 44-year-old man, his 37-year-old live-in partner and two minor children. The couple are suspected of having produced at least 25 kilograms of marijuana over the preceding months. It is believed that at least 18 kilograms of this, along with approximately 500 grams of amphetamine and small quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine, were supplied to sub-dealers and buyers.
In a specially equipped room, investigators found a home-made video recording system and numerous data storage devices that were apparently used for the production of private pornographic material. In the course of further investigations, four alleged victims of sexual offences were identified.
The investigation also extended to the immediate neighbourhood: a 39-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman are suspected of having purchased narcotics in the kilogram range. Alarming living circumstances were also found at their premises, following which additional children were taken into care by the responsible authorities.
Particularly grave were the conditions under which the children lived in the main property: due to substantially child-endangering circumstances, the two minors were removed by the child and youth welfare services of the Braunau district office during the house search itself. The deplorable housing and installation conditions also required the deployment of the volunteer fire service and intervention by the mayor in his capacity as building authority.
Investigators also traced the supply chain for synthetic narcotics: four further suspects from the Braunau district – aged 29, 31, 32 and 36 – are believed to have supplied at least six kilograms of amphetamine as well as cocaine and methamphetamine to the house for onwards sale. They were arrested in May and June 2026 in cooperation with the Upper Austrian State Criminal Investigation Office.
The tally so far: six arrested individuals, approximately 40 identified buyers, and further seizures of one kilogram of amphetamine, larger quantities of ecstasy tablets, drug money and digital evidence. All those arrested have confessed to the drug offences. Investigations are ongoing.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)