ustrian police seized automatic weapons, explosives and narcotics during raids on neo-Nazi sympathisers, and arrested several of them, the government said Saturday.

German police in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia states also arrested two suspects in connection with the operation.

The weapons were to be used to “establish a far-right network” in Germany, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told a news conference in Vienna.

Five men aged 21 to 53 with links to neo-Nazi groups were arrested in Austria, and were “unfortunately known for a while already” in the country, Nehammer said.

In October, Austrian investigators began to track drug deliveries from Germany and discovered that the profits were being used to buy arms.
series of searches uncovered 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 100 firearms, explosives that included hand grenades, narcotics and cash, a Viennese police statement said.

Investigators also recovered items issued by the World War II German army, the Wehrmact.