Three members of the Italian mafia group ’Ndrangheta have been sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Ukrainian court for their role in an international cocaine smuggling operation that routed drugs from South America to the European Union through Ukraine. Their property was also ordered confiscated.
The verdict follows a major joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the National Police, who apprehended the suspects in August 2021 during a carefully coordinated sting in Odessa.
According to the SSU, the criminal group had attempted to smuggle 80 kilograms of cocaine into the EU. The illicit cargo was hidden inside refrigerated banana containers shipped from South America. During inspection, law enforcement officers uncovered 100 bricks of cocaine, expertly concealed within the containers' technical compartments.
One of the traffickers was arrested near Odessa’s seaport, while the other two were detained at an industrial market in the Odessa region where they had come to collect the shipment before its planned transit to Western Europe.
The detainees include two nationals from Balkan countries and one Ukrainian citizen. Investigators found that within the ’Ndrangheta organization, the trio had been tasked with overseeing logistics and coordination of the drug trafficking route through Ukraine.
Following a thorough investigation and based on extensive evidence gathered by the SSU, the court found the men guilty under Part 3 of Article 305 and Part 3 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — smuggling narcotics by an organized group on a particularly large scale, and acquisition, storage, and transport of drugs with the intent to sell.
The operation was conducted by the SSU’s Odessa regional office in collaboration with the National Police, and under the procedural supervision of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The case marks a significant victory in Ukraine’s efforts to combat the use of its territory by transnational criminal networks, and further highlights the country’s role as a key player in international security cooperation.
