Nearly 2,000 seizures: police step up controls on illegal pyrotechnics
Since mid-October, police have recorded nearly 2,000 seizures of prohibited fireworks across Austria. Focus areas include train patrols and the border region with the Czech Republic.
Nationwide operation against illegal fireworks ahead of the New Year
Since mid-October 2026, police in Austria have registered nearly 2,000 seizures under the Pyrotechnics Act nationwide – weeks before the year-end period. As 5min.at reports, representatives from the police, customs authority and the ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) presented the intensified measures at a joint inspection at Vienna-Floridsdorf railway station on Tuesday (10 November).
A central focus lies on the illegal import of pyrotechnics from the Czech Republic. The authorities are conducting intensified controls in the border region, especially in the Lower Austrian districts of Hollabrunn, Mistelbach and Gmünd. Targeted operations are also taking place in Vienna and Upper Austria. Czech police are involved in these efforts; joint patrols and close information sharing are designed to prevent prohibited fireworks from crossing the border undetected.
Controls in railway traffic are also operating at full capacity. Since May, uniformed police officers have been patrolling in approximately 500 trains; approximately 300 additional train patrols are planned for November alone. The Vienna emergency response unit seized more than 700 pyrotechnic items during its operations. On 28 October, a tip from an ÖBB train conductor led to the seizure of 307 prohibited items. "Anyone who thinks they can transport illegal pyrotechnics undetected by train is mistaken," emphasises Michaela Huber, managing director of ÖBB-Operative Services GmbH.
During controls on Tuesday, the operational team came across another case: on the route between Vienna-Floridsdorf and Vienna-Praterstern, a Hungarian national was stopped. Police found 22 allegedly stolen dolls on her person with an estimated value of around 600 euros. According to police, the woman admitted to the offence and was charged with suspected theft whilst at liberty. As a foreign law enforcement arrest warrant was issued during the proceedings, she was subsequently arrested.
The authorities announced they would intensify the targeted operations further until the year-end period. Federal Police Director Michael Takács emphasises that illegal pyrotechnics would be prosecuted consistently. In the previous year, customs seized a total of 8,840 pyrotechnic items in 134 cases – including, according to Finance State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl, 720 fireworks with particularly high hazard potential. Police appeal to the public to use only approved pyrotechnics.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)