Drug Report 2024: Increase in Charges and Offenses
In 2024, a total of 37,310 reports were registered with the police. "It's not an all-time high, but still very high," commented the director of the Federal Criminal Office, Andreas Holzer, on Thursday regarding the increase in reports. In addition to the increase in crimes, there is also an increase of over five percent in offenses. Overall, drug-related crime accounts for about seven percent of total crime in Austria.
Cannabis according to the 2024 Drug Report remains at the forefront
While cannabis seizures remain at a similar level to 2023 with 2.5 tons, the statistics for cocaine show a significant increase to 259 kilograms seized, an increase of 68.4 percent. However, Holzer qualified this: "This is due to a large single seizure." The reason for the sharp decline in heroin, on the other hand, is significantly less opium cultivation following the regime change in Afghanistan.
Daniel Lichtenegger, head of the Office for Drug-Related Crime at the Federal Criminal Office and drug coordinator at the Ministry of the Interior, emphasized that this gap has not yet been closed. "There is currently no major supplier," Lichtenegger said when asked. "That's not possible either, because the cultivation areas are simply not available." Therefore, they are observing very closely "how the market in Europe develops," said the senior drug investigator - especially since synthetic opioids continue to be a major issue. "We have between 30,000 and 50,000 high-risk addicts in the area of heroin or opioids." Other synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and amphetamine also continue to play a significant role.
Wastewater samples also show that drug consumption in Austria is higher than previously assumed. The turnover on the illegal drug market in Austria is estimated at over one billion euros.
2024 Drug Report: Renewed call for messenger surveillance for criminal police
The illegal drug market is increasingly developing towards synthetic substances, digital distribution forms, and international organization, it was also stated during the presentation of the report at the Federal Criminal Office. New chemical substances, an increasing willingness to use violence in the drug milieu, and the merging with other forms of crime are challenges for the police.
Trade via crypto messengers, the darknet, and cryptocurrencies is also continuing to increase. Holzer once again called for more technical capabilities for the criminal police in this context. "It's not enough that we have finally opened our eyes to terrorism," he said, referring to the recent agreement reached by the government on the surveillance of messenger services in the area of state security.
(APA/Red)
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