Law enforcement officers conducted the second phase of the large-scale anti-drug special operation "Rubicon," the National Police reported on Friday, writes UNN.
Details
The operation was implemented under the coordination of the Department for Combating Drug Crime, the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, and under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor's offices.
More than 1,000 law enforcement officers were involved in the second phase of the operation: units combating drug crime, investigative units, employees of the main departments of the National Police in the regions and the city of Kyiv under the procedural guidance of regional and district prosecutor's offices. The measures were carried out in cooperation with the Military Law Enforcement Service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Chernivtsi region.
During the special operation, law enforcement officers documented the activities of individuals involved in setting up drug laboratories and organizing, administering, and ensuring the functioning of a large-scale drug sales system. This concerns not only direct laboratory workers and dealers but also participants in the infrastructure who ensured the operation of online stores, communication channels, logistics, financial settlements, and other elements of the illegal drug market.
The documentation of criminal activity was carried out using a comprehensive approach: operational work, investigative actions, criminal analysis, OSINT tools, and blockchain intelligence. This made it possible to establish connections between members of criminal groups, sales channels, digital traces, financial flows, cryptocurrency transactions, and other key elements of drug trafficking groups' activities.
The value of the seized drug products at "black" market prices is almost 70 million hryvnias.
Thus, in Bukovyna, a laboratory for the production of the psychotropic substance alpha-PVP was liquidated, and the supply channel of the psychotropic substance to "clients" from various regions of the country was blocked. In total, "goods" worth almost 44 million hryvnias were seized, and two members of the drug trafficking group were detained.
In Kyiv, a laboratory for the production of the psychotropic substance amphetamine, which was subsequently sold in the capital, was liquidated. The organizer was detained.
In Poltava region, two organizers of the illegal trafficking scheme for the precursor "phenylnitropropene" were detained. During searches, about 14 kilograms of the precursor were seized from them, from which almost 14 kg of amphetamine could have been produced.
According to the results of the second phase of the special operation "Rubicon":
- over 400 individuals involved in drug activities were identified, of which 146 have already been notified of suspicion of committing criminal offenses related to the illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
- one laboratory for the production of a-PVP and three for the production of amphetamine were liquidated;
- almost 90 kg of drug products were seized, including: 67 kg of a-PVP; 4 kg of cannabis; 3.6 kg of amphetamine; 1.3 kg of mephedrone, and others. Also, over 570 liters of precursors;
- the activity of online sales channels for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances was stopped.
Recall
This is a continuation of the large-scale operation "Rubicon," the first results of which in February were reported by the Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. At that time, a transnational drug business network with a full cycle of operation was exposed - from the supply of precursors from EU countries and industrial production to logistics and sales in Ukraine, Poland, Georgia, and Moldova.