Synthetic drug factory in Libčice: producing up to 120 kg of hashish daily
The National Anti-Drug Centre conducted the largest raid in its history in Libčice nad Vltavou. A former employee of A-Direkt describes the production of tonnes of synthetic hashish.
Testimony from the Czech Republic's largest illegal drug factory
"At my peak, I was producing an average of 120 kilograms of chemical hashish a day. They pushed me to make 200 kilos, but I couldn't manage that. I was exposed to enormous concentrations of chemicals," says Pavel, whose real name seznam zpravy.cz has withheld for security reasons.
Pavel worked for a year and a half at A-Direkt as a "hashmaker" – a synthetic hashish producer. He mixed tonnes of drugs produced from cannabis biomass saturated with chemical spray, which were sent to customers around the world via ordinary courier services. "I'd normally drive home intoxicated and covered in grease," he describes.
Huge business in a legal vacuum
The synthetic hashish that Pavel produced could be bought and can still be bought in the Czech Republic – on the internet, in vending machines, in convenience stores and brick-and-mortar shops. Its sale exists in a legal vacuum. If a product contains cannabinoids from a list of prohibited psychoactive substances, it is illegal and sellers face high fines or imprisonment. However, very few cases have been taken to court so far.
A large number of products containing synthetic substances appear on the Czech market, sold as collector's items. Authorities are unable to analyse their composition, let alone ban them and prosecute sellers. Yet this is a huge business. "If we consider that one of my hundred-gram bricks sold for five thousand crowns on the internet, then I produced goods worth up to 150 million a month. And that was just hashish. I'm not counting synthetic cannabis and other products," Pavel calculates.
Largest raid in the history of the National Anti-Drug Centre
In mid-June, the net closed. In an area of former screw factories in Libčice nad Vltavou, the National Anti-Drug Centre conducted the largest raid in its thirty-five-year history. Police officers uncovered laboratories for the production and research of synthetic cannabinoids in several hangars, warehouses with chemical cannabis, hashish and sweets, and cannabis grow operations.
Three foreigners ended up in custody. According to seznam zpravy.cz information, among them are two managers of A-Direkt: a thirty-seven-year-old man of Italian origin Alessandro Rossi with permanent residence in Bratislava and thirty-two-year-old Swiss national Amos Szvoboda.
"The foreigners are accused as members of an organised criminal group of unauthorised production and other handling of scheduled psychoactive substances, spreading drug addiction and legalising proceeds of criminal activity. In the event of a final conviction, they face years of imprisonment and confiscation of seized assets," said the National Anti-Drug Centre.
Over 11 tonnes of cannabis material seized
On 1 October, the National Anti-Drug Centre announced the results of the operation. Police officers seized 11 tonnes of cannabis material partially saturated with synthetic cannabinoids, over three tonnes of cannabis plants, 2.65 tonnes of hashish, one hundred kilograms of cannabis powder, hundreds of thousands of joints, thousands of electronic cigarettes, vaporisers and refills, and thousands of litres of chemicals. They also secured growing technology, nearly one tonne of jelly sweets and an industrial line for their production, approximately 120,000 original product packages and hundreds of kilograms of goods ready for packing.
"It started with an ordinary Facebook advert"
Pavel's speciality was hashish. He joined the company in January 2025 based on an advert on the Libčice Facebook page. "They were looking for employees for a company that allegedly was trying to get a certificate to grow cannabis for medical purposes. I was interested. And it seemed legal," he recalls.
A-Direkt adverts for various positions can still be found on the internet today. Besides warehouse workers or packers, the company was looking for, for example, a head chemist with experience in organic synthesis and knowledge of alkaloid derivatives, tryptamines and cannabinoids. The starting salary was 100,000 crowns a month plus bonuses.
"I started as a warehouse worker with a salary of roughly 45,000 crowns net. When it got going, there were about ten of us at the company and we were producing around 20 kilograms of hashish a day. That was still 'laid-back'," Pavel recalls.
A tent town inside the hangar
Pavel describes how production in the hangar took place. He compares it to a tent town. "The hangar was divided into several sectors with party tents. In one there was a kitchen where chemicals were prepared, next to it was the hashroom, on the edge there were large tables where mostly Ukrainian women put chemical hashish into bags. In another section, goods were packed into ordinary parcels and routinely dispatched by post to clients," he describes.
He first worked on producing Dry Hash – hashish without the use of water or solvents. "Normally you'd take a pot, pour pollen into it, add the mixture and stir it. The powder was infused, coated, and bricks were made from the mass," he explains the process.
Pollen is a fine powder rich in resinous glands from cannabis, allegedly imported from Switzerland or the United States. Pavel refers to the mixture as artificially produced synthetic cannabinoids, which mimic the effects of cannabis and act on the same receptors in the brain, but are ten to a hundred times stronger and more dangerous than natural marijuana.
At the back of the hangar stood a 3D printer for making moulds for pressing hashish. According to Pavel, A-Direkt boasted that it was completely self-sufficient in the production of synthetic drugs.
The editorial office did not contact the company
Seznam Zprávy spoke with several former and current A-Direkt employees who describe the operation of one of the Czech Republic's largest illegal factories for the production and research of synthetic drugs. The editorial office approached a company representative via contacts on the website. The telephone number listed was temporarily disconnected from the network and the e-mail was returned as undelivered.
Source: Google News CZ — Crime (cs)