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In Kyiv and the surrounding region, law enforcement agencies, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, dismantled an international cocaine trafficking channel with a multi-million-dollar turnover. In total, 16 suspects linked to the operation have been detained.
The Department of Internal Security of the National Police of Ukraine reported on these events.
“More than fifty searches, 16 arrests and the dismantling of a cocaine distribution network with a multi-million-dollar turnover in the Kyiv metropolitan region – the result of a joint special operation by investigators of the Kyiv region police, operatives of the Department of Internal Security (DIB) of the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine. Cocaine entered Ukraine from Latin American countries via smuggling routes through Europe.”
Who led it and how the network operated
According to investigators, at the head of this group was a 40-year-old man previously convicted of narcotics offenses.
The DIB reported that the suspect recruited three more co-organizers, to whom he delegated duties such as procuring drugs, finding clients, establishing a network of dealers, as well as overseeing participants in the group and financial flows.
“Other suspects, including one native of the Russian Federation, were responsible for packaging, transporting and selling cocaine. The accomplices took orders via the Telegram messenger, and delivery was carried out in rented cars, camouflaged as a taxi service. The narcotic was handed over hand-to-hand, after agreeing in advance on the time and place of the meeting.”
According to investigators, the price of one gram of the narcotic ranged from 150 to 200 dollars, and the monthly profit of the criminal group was about 17 million hryvnias.
Officers from the DIB of the NPU, the SBU, and investigators of the Kyiv Oblast Police conducted a series of simultaneous authorized searches in several regions. During the investigative actions, narcotic substances, cash in various currencies, devices for using drugs, vehicles, draft notes, bank cards, and other evidentiary items were seized.
Sixteen members of the group were detained in accordance with the law, including the organizer.
All of them were notified of suspicion under Part 1 and Part 3 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal production, procurement, storage, transportation, transfer, or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues).
The organizer and co-organizers are already in custody. The court ordered detention without the possibility of posting bail. They face up to 12 years in prison.
Procedural leadership in the case is being carried out by the Kyiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office.
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Sean Hocking
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