The Czech Republic Annual Report 2010 Drug ... - Drogy-info.cz

10 Drug Markets
Marijuana and pervitin were the two most widely available drugs in 2010, and a trend of cocaine becoming
increasingly popular and available was noted. The price and purity of the basic drugs have generally remained
stable, even though there have been certain fluctuations in recent years as far as the price (e.g. of cocaine or
ecstasy) or purity (e.g. of hashish, ecstasy, or heroin) are concerned.
Most of the marijuana grown was intended for the domestic market. A part of the indoor production of cannabis is
well organised and mainly operated by persons of Vietnamese descent. A total of 278 kg of marijuana and nearly 65
thousand cannabis plants were seized, twice the number of cannabis plants seized in 2009. The number of cannabis
plantations detected is also increasing – 145 of them were detected.
Pervitin is mainly made by domestic producers in low-volume home-based laboratories. However, large-scale
production of pervitin is becoming more common and is mainly run by organised groups of Vietnamese or Albanian
descent. Pervitin is mostly made from medicines containing pseudoephedrine, which are mainly imported from
Poland. The drug is predominantly intended for the domestic market; a low proportion of the production is intended
for export, e.g. to Germany. A total of 21.3 kg of pervitin were seized, the highest quantity in the past 4 years, and
307 cooking labs were discovered.
Cocaine has become an established drug, mainly in the recreational and nightlife settings. Its import and distribution
are mainly pursued by West Africans (predominantly Nigerians), in addition to Albanians, Romanians, and
Bulgarians. The drugs are smuggled in the body cavities of the couriers (swallowers). The couriers import cocaine
directly from South America or from Western European countries. The number of seizures and the quantity of
cocaine seized have been increasing since 2008; in 2010 a total of 42 seizures of a total quantity of 14.2 kg of
cocaine were reported.
The demand for heroin on the Czech market is satisfied through small shipments (of under 10 kg), which are diluted
(most typically with paracetamol and caffeine) before street sale. The purity of street heroin was between 5 and 10%.
The quantity of heroin seized and the number of seizures remain stable: 20–40 kg are seized in 50–100 seizures per
year.
New synthetic drugs (legal highs) appeared increasingly in the Czech Republic in 2010. They are substances whose
effects are similar to those of traditional drugs (pervitin, marijuana, ecstasy, hallucinogens, etc.) but which are not
scheduled as illicit substances and, as such, are not subject to the international and national drug control systems.
They are imported especially from Asia (China) and mainly include synthetic cannabinoids and cathinone
derivatives.
10.1 Availability and Supply
Information provided by the National Drug Headquarters of the Police of the Czech Republic and the General
Customs Headquarters (specifically the Customs Drug Unit) represents the basic sources of data regarding the
availability, production, smuggling, and distribution of drugs on the territory of the Czech Republic (Národní
protidrogová centrála SKPV Policie ČR, 2011b); (Národní protidrogová centrála SKPV Policie ČR, 2011c; Celní
protidrogová jednotka , 2011).
The drug market in a specific territory inherently combines domestic production, foreign trade (imports and exports),
and consumption. No estimates were made of drug consumption in the Czech Republic in 2010. By way of
illustration of the context of the drug markets in 2010, the estimates made in 2008 can be quoted, according to which
almost 19 tonnes of cannabis, 4.7 million tablets of ecstasy, and 1 million doses of LSD were consumed in the
Czech Republic. 550 kg of cocaine with an average purity of 70% were imported into the Czech Republic and almost
1 tonne of the drug with an average purity of 45% reached the end users. In addition, 4.2 tonnes of pervitin with an
average purity of 80% were produced but the drug is usually cut and its purity for street sale or export is reduced to
70%. A total of 4.4 tonnes of the drug are estimated to have been consumed in the Czech Republic. 330 kg of heroin
with an average purity of 40% were imported into the Czech Republic but the purity on the market was only
approximately 10% and 1.3 tonnes of the drug were consumed on the Czech market; for details see the 2009
Annual Report.
Most of the marijuana grown in 2010 was intended for the domestic market. There has been an increase in the
indoor cultivation of cannabis with a high THC content (8–18%) since 2005. It was confirmed in 2010 that a part of
the growing operations in large-scale indoor plantations in the Czech Republic is relatively well organised and mainly
pursued by persons of Vietnamese descent, who are also active in the area of importing the cultivation technologies,
especially from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Most of the plantations discovered in 2010 (a total of 145,
compared to 84 plantations detected in 2009) were operated by individuals of Vietnamese descent, and most of the
production of these large-scale plantations was exported, in particular to Germany and other Western European
countries.
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