The Security Service of Ukraine and law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Poland have dismantled a transnational smuggling channel that was importing precursors used to manufacture and distribute powerful psychotropic drugs into Ukraine.
As a result of a special operation conducted in both countries, 10 members of the international drug group were detained. They had been transporting bulk shipments of pseudoephedrine to Zaporizhzhia.
Available data indicate that the monthly “profits” of the suspects exceeded 100,000 USD.
According to case materials, to conceal the precursor’s import into Ukraine, the suspects hid it inside containers of baby food and animal feed.
They then sent these disguised “packages” to their accomplices in Ukraine via scheduled buses or postal services.
The average shipment weighed around 5 kg — equivalent to 50,000 pills of banned substances containing the precursor pseudoephedrine.
After receiving the contraband, the suspects distributed part of the “product” through a network of dealers. They also left precursors at a drug lab in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where amphetamine was manufactured.
SSU officers, working with Polish law enforcement, documented the drug trafficking network, identified all participants, and simultaneously arrested them during the special operation.
Six suspects were detained in the EU, and four others, including the gang’s organizer, were arrested in Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih.
Investigations revealed that the drug trafficking was organized by two brothers from Zaporizhzhia. One brother left for the EU in early 2022 and established the foreign branch of the group responsible for smuggling precursors into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, his brother stayed in Zaporizhzhia to coordinate the import of illegal substances and their sale across various regions of Ukraine.
Searches at the suspects’ locations in both Ukraine and the EU uncovered precursors and psychotropic drugs ready for sale, as well as equipment for synthesizing narcotics.
The SSU investigators have charged the detainees in Ukraine under four articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 3, Article 305 (smuggling of precursors);
- Part 3, Article 307 (illegal manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, shipment, or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues);
- Part 3, Article 311 (illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, or shipment of precursors);
- Part 2, Article 317 (organization or maintenance of places for illegal use, manufacture, or production of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues).
The suspects are currently in custody and face up to 12 years in prison with asset confiscation. There is also a decision pending on additional charges for creating and participating in a criminal organization.
The suspects detained abroad have been held accountable according to the legislation of their respective EU countries.
The special operation was conducted by SSU officers in the Zaporizhzhia region under the coordination of the SSU’s Chief Investigative Directorate and procedural guidance of the regional prosecutor’s office.
