Police seized property and financial assets worth over CZK 105 million, along with drugs worth over CZK 2.5 billion. Photo credit: Freepik.
Prague, June 26 (CTK) – The police prosecuted 3,418 people on suspicion of drug offences in the Czech Republic last year, up 272 from 2021, according to the annual report released by the National Drug Control Center (NPC) today. The highest number of offences (559) were in the capital of Prague.
The second highest number of prosecutions was in the Central Bohemia Region (448), while the lowest number was recorded in the Vysocina Region (85).
The vast majority of those prosecuted were Czech citizens (3,099), followed by Slovaks (75), Ukrainians (57) and Poles (40).
In 2022, the police prosecuted 2,902 men and 516 women on suspicion of drug offences. Of these, there were 3,302 adults, 91 juveniles and 25 underage.
As in previous years, the most frequent reasons for prosecution were the illicit manufacturing of narcotic and psychotropic substances and possession of drugs for personal use.
In the criminal proceedings by NPC, police officers seized property and financial assets worth over CZK 105 million. The drugs seized were worth over CZK 2.5 billion.
“A significant success was scored in terms of the amount of cocaine seized in 2022, almost 1.2 tonnes, in two investigated cases of finding the drug among goods in large grocery chain stores,” NPC director Jakub Frydrych said.
Police uncovered hundreds of kilos of cocaine in boxes of bananas in several Czech supermarkets last June. The drugs apparently came from Colombia.
Last year, NPC also seized 41 kilograms of pervitin (methamphetamine), almost 19,000 ecstasy tablets and almost 16,000 plants containing illegal amounts of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), and they also registered 31 crimes related to anabolics, six fewer than the year before.
Expert studies suggest that police seizures of drug shipments have minimal effect on the overall market, as any significant reduction in supply is compensated by rising prices at street level.
Number of charges over drug offences by region in 2022:
| South Bohemia | 199 |
| South Moravia | 235 |
| Karlovy Vary | 104 |
| Hradec Králové | 139 |
| Liberec | 166 |
| Moravian-Silesian | 305 |
| Olomouc | 218 |
| Pardubice | 125 |
| Pilsen | 173 |
| Prague | 559 |
| Central Bohemia | 448 |
| Usti nad Labem | 376 |
| Vysocina | 85 |
| Zlin | 105 |
| Prosecuted by NPC | 111 |
| Prosecuted by Customs Authority | 70 |
| In total | 3,418 |
Source: NPC annual report for 2022.
