Czech interior minister pledges to crack down on drug crimes near Czech-German border

The Czech Republic has pledged to introduce strict measures against drug crimes in areas near the border with Germany where the situation has been getting out of control. Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said after talks with his Bavarian counterpart Joachim Herrmann on Friday that the police would focus especially on Asian marketplaces in the border areas, where dealers sell crystal methamphetamine to tourists and smuggle it across the border. In recent years, Vietnamese gangs based in the country started producing crystal methamphetamine and growing marijuana. The drugs are not only exported, but they have become more easily available in the Czech Republic, at discos and elsewhere.