Within a few weeks, several underage girls from the local drug scene of the Tyrolean state capital died. Three girls, aged 13, 14 and 16, alone lost their lives due to suspected overdoses. These tragedies, which have occurred since the end of February 2026, shine a glaring light on systematic exploitation structures that specifically drive young girls into addiction and sexual violence.
In April, several media reported on the latest death: A 14-year-old was found dead in an apartment in the district of Dreiheiligen. With that, the death toll since late February rose to five, including several youths. The victims knew each other. Klaus Kapelari, the medical director of the Competence Center for the Protection of Violence, told the Tyrolean daily newspaper: “All three girls have known each other. They were in the same clique.”
The series began on the 28th. February with the death of a 16-year-old. Other cases followed, including the death of a 13-year-old who was friends with the 16-year-old and had only met her in the Haller Psychiatry just a few months earlier. In the case of the 13-year-old, the cause of death is already clear: She died after the use of several hard drugs, including cocaine, opiates and psychotropic drugs.
Experts describe a perfidious pattern that particularly affects vulnerable girls. Klaus Kapelari paints a bleak picture: “First the victims receive drugs cheaply, then relevant photos are required for this.” In the further consequence, it goes even further: If the girls can no longer finance their increasing consumption, they must provide sexual favors. In some cases, they would be given such large amounts of addictive drug that they lose consciousness.
Innsbruck Central Station is considered a central hub for this scene. Many of the girls affected are from difficult circumstances or were under the care of child and youth welfare. As the Heute newspaper reported at the end of April, the mother of the 13-year-old made serious accusations against the authorities, because her daughter had not been sufficiently protected.
The procedure in Innsbruck follows a pattern known from other Austrian cities. For example, several media outlets reported on a 14-year-old girl who has had similar experiences in Salzburg. She described her time in the “station clique” and said, “I want people to understand that this is all real.”
She described one-room apartments and said, “There were mattresses everywhere.” The girls received drugs and had to endure sex. She was in more than a dozen such apartments. Once, when she was defenseless, she was given heroin. “I saw three men do things to me,” she said. She and other girls from her clique were specifically approached and drawn into these circles. For fear, many affected persons do not file a complaint – the perpetrators often know where the girls live, and sometimes even take the IDs from them.
Similar cases had already accumulated in Vienna in 2025. According to media reports, seven people under the age of 18 who were in the care of child and youth welfare (MA 11) died from the consequences of drug abuse. Belinda Plattner, the head of the Children’s and Adolescent Psychiatry Salzburg, warned: “The girls say that they are approached at Salzburg Central Station by Arab-born young men who offer them drugs and promise them even more drugs in Vienna.”
Plattner continued: “The girls are often persuaded to stay for several days. They serve tea to the men and live with them. First, the men still give them recognition, but often there is sexual abuse and very devaluing behavior towards the girls.”
The reports from Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna show a recurring pattern: Minor girls from disadvantaged backgrounds are specifically attracted to free drugs, made dependent and then sexually exploited – often by groups. This approach is very similar to that of the so-called grooming gangs in the UK, which systematically abused thousands of girls for years and have long been downplayed by the authorities.
The Tyrolean state government is now responding to the latest deaths with three new 24/7 care places for drug-dependent minors under the age of 14 and a budget of 800,000 euros.