Germany’s meth tourism problem: Vietnamese blamed for surge in drug-buying trips to Czech Republic

From: South China Morning Post | Post Magazine

‘Crystal tourism’ is a boom industry thanks to markets run by Asian migrants in the Czech Republic that attract methamphetamine users from neighbouring Germany

BY JENS KASTNER

It seems to be a well-honed ritual: the fashionably dressed German woman in her mid-20s gets a manicure while her toddler keeps herself entertained with a tablet computer on the nail studio’s couch. Meanwhile, in a nearby storage room filled with gaudy goods of questionable origin – from counterfeit Barbie dolls and neo-Nazi T-shirts to unlicenced firecrackers and knuckle-dusters – the girl’s young father hands €400 (US$493) to a Vietnamese man in return for a thumb-size bag of off-white crystals.

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Much of the street selling initially focused on non-taxed cigarettes, but the Vietnamese markets became sources for cannabis and, in recent years, crystal meth, which is relatively easy to manufacture, even in a kitchen environment.

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