Prague - Use of methamphetamine, called pervitin in the Czech Republic, has increased in the German federal states of Bavaria and Saxony as well as in other countries of the Central European region, according to an annual report on drug use in Europe from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

According to estimates, almost six tons of methamphetamine are produced in the Czech Republic every year, and only a small percentage is seized by police. Last year, police seized 69 kilograms.

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“Pervitin from the Czech Republic is supplied to users in Germany, Austria, partially in Slovakia and possibly also in border areas of Poland. The Scandinavian countries get it from the Baltic states, Southern Europe from the Black Sea countries,” said Czech National Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction head Viktor Moravcik.

Methamphetamine is produced from pseudoephedrine, contained for example in anti-flu medicines. The sale of these medicines has been restricted in the Czech Republic, where they can be purchased only with an ID card. However, they are still sold without any restriction in neighboring Poland. Methamphetamine would become less available if Poland regulated the sale, said Czech anti-drug coordinator Jindrich Voboril.

“It is estimated that one in eight or ten cars heading to the Czech Republic from Poland carries several thousands of pills. You can buy them in tobacco shops, gas stations, every supermarket there,” Voboril told the Czech Press Agency (CTK).

German drug users often buy Czech methamphetamine in Asian-run marketplaces in the Czech Republic's borderlands. “In the past two years there have been signs of an increased involvement of Vietnamese organized crime groups in the Czech methamphetamine market and an increase in production,” said the annual report.

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