Austrian police bust drug-smuggling ring, arrest 50 suspects

BERLIN – Austrian police say they have arrested 50 people and seized cocaine, heroin, marijuana and amphetamines following a three-year investigation into a suspected drug-smuggling ring.

Vienna police said Friday that the detainees include 10 suspected couriers, who transported drugs to the city from the Netherlands, Nigeria and Cameroon, and three organizers, extradited to Austria from the Netherlands. They also include two people who confessed to robbing a bank in Austria.

Authorities say they seized 17 kilos (37.5 pounds) of cocaine and 4 kilos (8.8 pounds) of heroin as well as marijuana and amphetamines worth some 100,000 euros ($104,500).

Police say they found evidence that the ring smuggled a total of 56 kilos (123 pounds) of heroin and cocaine with a street value of at least 6 million euros ($6.3 million).