Is the gambling mafia spreading in Vienna?

Just recently we reported on some mafia activities in the gambling scene in Italy. Above all, the mafia organization ’Ndrangheta, which comes from Calabria in Italy, is up to mischief. Over the years, the organization has set up a control committee in Germany, more precisely in Duisburg. The so-called Crimine di Germania. The reason for this? Maintaining peace between the ’Ndrangheta clans.

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What was particularly shocking was that the panel went undetected for so long. But enough about the Italian mafia at this point. If you want, you can read about the ’Ndrangheta, why Germany is so important as a location for them and how the new gambling contract could benefit the mafia in our current article on the Italian mafia.

The underground gambling mafia in Vienna

But now we want to take a quick look at Austria because of the current situation, because there is also a lot going on in the matter of the gambling mafia. The Viennese police have had a lot to do in the Austrian capital Vienna in the last few weeks: the underground casinos are spreading there at lightning speed.

Allegedly, the gambling mafia in Vienna operates a large underground network. This includes houses that are not inhabited and are empty. But basement rooms are also often turned into illegal gambling venues. Some of them, four in number, have been seized by the Viennese police in the past few weeks.

Hard to believe, but unfortunately true: The gambling mafia not only uses vacant properties, but also inhabited houses. The residents were presumably scared and thus silenced by threats. In other cases, residents who live in large houses and often do not use all parts of the property are unaware that the gambling mafia is engaged in illegal activities on their property.

This is of course to be viewed critically, as it is very unlikely that you are not aware of it, as the transport of heavy gambling objects such as gaming tables or machines should actually attract attention.

Already around the middle of last month there were reports in the news about a similar topic when an underground casino in the Vienna district of Favoriten was discovered in the course of a raid. Five gaming machines and three poker tables were confiscated. There was also another illegal activity on the part of the actors who also illegally diverted electricity and gas.

In the end, there were 29 reports against the criminals involved. According to the Vienna police, there were violations of the registration, fire police, tobacco, price labeling and youth protection laws.

Politics intervenes

The discovery of the underground gambling mafia and the 29 advertisements are definitely a good step in the right direction, but realistically speaking there is still a long way to go for Austrian politics before the problem is finally resolved.

Especially during the lockdown period, which served to counter the spread of the Covid-19 virus, there was an increase in illegal gambling activities. As a result, people with a tendency to gambling addiction or those who are already addicted to gambling are at extreme risk, because no betting or loss limits are set in illegal gambling establishments.

This sad development is now increasingly the focus of politics. The Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Blümel is aware of the spread of criminal structures in the field of illegal gambling and trusts the ability of the financial police to continue to declare war on them.