A dangerous new synthetic drug is spreading across the Czech Republic, raising alarm among authorities and health experts.

Customs officials in the Ostrava region recently uncovered the country’s first clandestine laboratory producing clephedrone—a powerful stimulant that belongs to the synthetic cathinone group, also known as “designer drugs.” The seizure included nearly a ton of material valued at over 310 million Czech crowns.

Clephedrone shares chemical similarities with mephedrone and MDMA (ecstasy), but its effects are more intense and pose a significantly higher risk of overdose, according to experts.

“When people start mixing it with alcohol or other substances, it can be deadly,” said Jindřich Vobořil, former Czech national drug coordinator, in an interview with Seznam Zprávy.

Clephedrone is just the latest in a wave of synthetic drugs infiltrating Prague’s nightlife and broader drug scene. Emergency services have also documented overdoses linked to Nitazene, another potent and unregulated substance. Nitazene was originally developed as a synthetic alternative to morphine, but was never approved for medical use.

Health experts warn that Nitazene is 10 to 40 times more toxic than fentanyl—a substance already considered one of the deadliest on the market. In the United States, fentanyl is now the leading cause of death among adults aged 18 to 45.

The Czech National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction has been tracking the rise of these new psychoactive substances, which often arrive faster than legislation can respond. Their unpredictable chemical makeup makes them particularly dangerous, especially when users are unaware of what they are consuming.

Authorities are urging the public, especially younger people in nightlife settings, to be vigilant and avoid unknown or untested substances, as even small amounts can be fatal.

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