Czech customs officers have seized a shipment of 115 kilograms of ketamine that was headed for Canada, as part of an international investigation, according to Ondrej Kalivoda, head of the Customs Administration’s department for investigation of customs and drug crimes, speaking to reporters at a press conference earlier.
The office has dismantled an international ring that was smuggling prohibited substances on a large scale via shipping companies, hidden in cosmetics and other products.
The intercepted drugs would have had a street value on the Canadian market of roughly CZK 250 million.
Police have charged three foreign nationals in the case, who are currently in custody in Germany, Slovakia, and Serbia, awaiting extradition to the Czech Republic. If convicted, they face up to 18 years in prison, said Jakub Frydrych, director of the National Anti-Drug Centre (NPC).
According to Kalivoda, the case is exceptional primarily due to the volume of the ketamine seized. In previous operations, customs officers have typically seized no more than about one kilogram of ketamine.
He also noted that the group’s operation was highly sophisticated. To transport ketamine from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic and subsequently to Canada, they established a cosmetics company so they could smuggle the drugs in hair care product packaging.
Customs officials found ketamine in containers of loose hair care products. “There were a thousand containers,” said Kalivoda. “In roughly 280 of them, ketamine in crystalline form was cleverly concealed.”
He noted that the group couldn’t smuggle drugs directly from the Netherlands because customs officials in other countries were on the lookout for such shipments. “The Netherlands is the hub from which synthetic drugs are distributed around the world, and many countries are aware of this,” Kalivoda explained.
According to customs officials, the group operated in several countries, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, and Serbia. In addition to ketamine, they smuggled cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), and amphetamines. Czech customs officials collaborated on the case with their Polish and Slovak counterparts. Frydrych said some other members of the group are being prosecuted in Poland and other countries.
Based on a tip from customs officials, police also charged 14 people with trafficking anabolic steroids. “We seized 60,000 packages, primarily of substances with anabolic effects,” Kalivoda stated. According to Frydrych, such cases are on the rise due to the fragmented legal approach of EU member states toward these substances. The perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison.
Customs officials have been working on both cases since 2023.
According to Frydrych, Canadian customs officials frequently seize ketamine. However, its popularity is also growing in Europe. “All European countries are reporting increases in seizures,” he said. “This is likely linked to a resurgence of interest in self-improvement activities.”
