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Published 05:12 IST, December 13th 2020

Austria seizes weapons destined for Germany's far right

Police raids in recent days led to the seizure of 70 automatic and semi-automatic firearms, more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition and explosives, officials said. The main suspect is a 53-year-old Austrian, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said.

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Austrian authorities seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition that were intended to be sold to far-right extremists in Germany, officials said Saturday.

Police raids in recent days led to the seizure of 70 automatic and semi-automatic firearms, more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition and explosives, officials said. The main suspect is a 53-year-old Austrian, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said.

Nehammer said the police operations had uncovered “a network that shows links between the area of right-wing extremism and organized crime.”

He said that some of those belonged to the “neo-Nazi scene that have sadly also been known in Austria for a while.”

The firearms were allegedly bought with the proceeds from the sale of drugs.

Updated 05:12 IST, December 13th 2020