Krems court adjourns drug trial again after defendant no-show
Monday 14th September 2026 on 18:01 in
Austria
A court in Krems has adjourned for the third time proceedings against an alleged accomplice of the so-called Crystal Meth priest after the defendant again failed to appear on Monday, ORF reported. A court spokesman said authorities were examining whether he should be brought to the hearing by force.
The 32-year-old Iraqi man is accused of trying to produce crystal meth with the priest and two other men at a parish rectory in the Waldviertel region on July 13, 2024, and during the night of July 21. The plan failed because of faulty instructions. The man is also suspected of storing drug precursor substances at his home.
He is charged with the unauthorised handling of drug precursor substances. He failed to attend hearings on October 23, 2025, and December 1, 2025, as well as Monday’s hearing.
The main defendant in the case, a now 40-year-old former Polish priest, allegedly ordered various drug precursors online with a 25-year-old man in June and July 2024. The orders included 10 litres of hydrochloric acid, 1.5 litres of diethyl ether and three litres of acetone.
After the substances were delivered to a parcel station in the Czech Republic, they were collected and taken to the Waldviertel. According to the indictment, the men intended to produce one kilogram of crystal meth.
The precursors were stored in the former priest’s parish apartment, where the two alleged production attempts also took place. After the attempts failed, the second defendant allegedly kept the chemicals at his home from July 22 to 25, 2024.
A witness alerted investigators after noticing a chemical smell in the 40-year-old’s apartment and finding laboratory equipment there. A search of the parish rectory brought the case to public attention in July 2024, followed by arrests. An expert report later concluded that the substances and instructions used would not have been sufficient to produce crystal meth.
At a hearing on October 23, 2025, the former priest and the 25-year-old co-defendant received partially suspended prison sentences of 22 and 15 months. Nineteen months of the priest’s sentence and 13 months of the co-defendant’s sentence were suspended. Their periods in pretrial detention were credited, so neither had to go to prison. Another 25-year-old man received a six-month suspended sentence. All three convictions are final.