39-year-old Priest in Drug Trial in Court in August

In June and July 2024, the priest, together with an accomplice, is said to have ordered drug precursors online. The delivery was made to a parcel station in the Czech Republic, from where the substances were brought to the Waldviertel. According to the court, these included ten liters of hydrochloric acid, one and a half liters of diethyl ether, and three liters of acetone, to produce about one kilogram of crystal meth.

Drug precursors found during house search at priest's residence

The substances were stored by the accused priest in his parish apartment. Subsequently, the three accomplices are also said to have gathered there to produce methamphetamine. Two occasions are documented, July 13 and from July 20 to 21, 2024. After the original plan likely failed due to the faulty instruction, one of the accused - a 31-year-old Iraqi - is said to have stored the drug precursors in his apartment until July 25. The case became known to the media in July of the previous year, and a house search ordered by the Krems public prosecutor's office took place at the affected parish house in the Waldviertel. The 39-year-old was arrested and remanded in custody. However, the priest was released from this custody towards the end of the previous year.

There were also consequences for the clergyman from the church side. The man was "immediately relieved of his duties in the Diocese of St. Pölten," and he was also "prohibited from any pastoral activity in the diocese," according to a statement from the Diocese of St. Pölten. The 39-year-old faces a prison sentence of up to five years under the Narcotic Substances Act. According to his defense attorney Astrid Wagner, the priest is likely to plead "basically guilty." However, to actually produce crystal meth, the accused "had nothing suitable available," the lawyer emphasized recently.

(APA/Red)

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