Austrian police arrest 58 in drug ring bust

Fifty eight people, including one German citizen, were arrested by Austrian police on suspicions they belonged to a drug ring, an official said Tuesday.

Those arrested during the course of the roughly one-year investigation, which ended recently, include a 71-year-old German man, as well as Serbian and Austrian citizens, investigator Knut Pewal said.

Police have investigated some 130 people for possible links to the ring, which is suspected of smuggling 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) of cannabis and 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine from the Netherlands and Serbia into Austria to be sold, Pewal said.

Over the course of the investigation, police throughout Austria seized hashish, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and designer drugs.

The ring, which consisted of three different groups, is also suspected of committing other crimes, including burglaries.