Ukrainian law enforcement officers conducted one of the largest anti-drug operations in recent years. In 21 regions and abroad, they exposed a transnational network that ensured the full cycle of production and distribution of narcotic substances.
This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine.
On February 18, law enforcement officials announced the completion of a large-scale special operation “Rubicon”, conducted jointly with foreign partners. Law enforcement officers from the Republic of Poland and Moldova, as well as Europol, joined the operation.
Police officers conducted over 500 searches in 21 regions of Ukraine. As a result, 34 drug laboratories and 74 warehouses with finished products were liquidated, and over 27 million doses of drugs were seized. Suspicion was declared against 123 members of criminal groups.
The National Police noted that six people involved in the operation of the laboratories were detained in Poland. In Moldova, a courier who tried to transport drugs across the border was detained.
In total, as a result of the all-Ukrainian special operation, law enforcement officers detained 97 people under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
In Ukraine, police officers, with the force support of KORD, TOR DPP, DOZOR of the State Police of Ukraine, special police units and dog handlers of the Main Police Department in the regions and the city of Kyiv, conducted searches in the capital and Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi and Chernihiv regions.
A law enforcement officer holds suspects near evidence during the Rubicon special operation. Telegram/National Police of Ukraine
Material evidence found during Operation Rubicon. Telegram/National Police of Ukraine
Material evidence found during Operation Rubicon. Telegram/National Police of Ukraine
Law enforcement officers have uncovered four organized groups and one criminal organization that manufactured synthetic cathinones – alpha-PVP, amphetamine, methamphetamine and mephedrone. The criminals established a full cycle of illegal production: precursors were smuggled from the European Union, after which the psychotropic substances were synthesized in clandestine laboratories and distributed to end users.
Two transnational groups coordinated the production and sale of drugs in Poland, as well as organized their movement to Ukraine and Moldova. Another international network ensured the supply of precursors to laboratories in both countries.
According to the investigation, an extensive network of drug laboratories operated almost throughout Ukraine. Each specialized in a separate type of prohibited substances, and the total production capacity exceeded 700 kilograms of products per month. The estimated profit of the group was over 400 million hryvnias per month.