Joint Austrian-German police operation targets neo-Nazis, seizes arms

Austria’s interior minister says the weapons captured during raids were to be used to ‘establish a far-right network’ in Germany

VIENNA — Austrian police seized automatic weapons, explosives and narcotics during raids on neo-Nazi sympathizers, and arrested several of them, the government said Saturday.

German police in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia states also arrested two suspects in connection with the operation.

The weapons were to be used to “establish a far-right network” in Germany, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told a news conference in Vienna.

Five men aged 21 to 53 with links to neo-Nazi groups were arrested in Austria, and were “unfortunately known for a while already” in the country, Nehammer said.

Illustrative: Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer addresses a press conference in Vienna, November 2020 (Joe Klamar/AFP)

In October, Austrian investigators began to track drug deliveries from Germany and discovered that the profits were being used to buy arms.

A series of searches uncovered 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 100 firearms, explosives that included hand grenades, narcotics and cash, a Viennese police statement said.

Investigators also recovered items issued by the World War II German army, the Wehrmact.

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