Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), the former head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, has been detained in the Czech city of Karlovy Vary, according to his Telegram channel.

A post on the channel said that on May 24, after Hilarion left a church in Karlovy Vary, police stopped the car carrying the Metropolitan and a camera operator who was accompanying him. During a search of the vehicle, officers found “four small containers of a white substance” in the trunk.

“The composition, origin, and nature of the substance must be determined only by a qualified expert examination,” the post said.

Metropolitan Hilarion denied any involvement in the possession of prohibited substances.

“I have no connection, and have never had any connection, to the illegal trafficking of narcotics. For me, as a clergyman, the very suggestion of such a thing is categorically false. I insist on a full, independent, and procedurally irreproachable investigation of what occurred,” he said.

According to the Metropolitan’s lawyer, Michal Pakovsky, two police cars had effectively been lying in wait on the highway and moved in on the vehicle when they spotted it — one pulling ahead, one falling in behind. Officers asked not only the driver but also the Metropolitan for his documents, though no traffic violations had been alleged, the lawyer said. Pakovsky added that Hilarion was taken to a store at a gas station and was not given the opportunity to observe the search of the vehicle.

Hilarion also said that in recent months he had repeatedly received anonymous threats, including threats of physical violence, demanding that he leave his place of ministry.

Metropolitan Hilarion served as chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate from 2009. He was considered a possible successor to Patriarch Kirill. In June 2022, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church removed Hilarion from his position as chairman of the Department of External Church Relations and appointed him administrator of the Budapest-Hungarian Diocese.

In December 2024, the ROC Synod removed Hilarion from administration of the Budapest-Hungarian Diocese and sent him into “retirement” — several months after the Metropolitan was accused of sexual harassment.