Large-scale drug trafficking: 17 members of a criminal group detained in the Cherkasy region
Law enforcement agencies detained 17 people who were part of a criminal community led by a 33-year-old resident of the Cherkasy region. This group was engaged in the sale of methadone in large quantities in the Cherkasy, Odessa, and Kyiv regions, receiving orders through Telegram channels and making payments to fake bank cards and crypto wallets. The monthly income from the activities of the criminals amounted to about one million hryvnias.
According to the press service of the National Police, operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department in the Cherkasy region, together with police investigators, documented the work of an organized criminal group for six months. It was established that the leader involved 16 more people in the drug business, who worked according to a clearly defined scheme, from administering Telegram channels and processing orders to packaging and delivering drugs.
The drugs were purchased in large quantities — 2–3 kg each, stored in the homes of the participants, where they were packaged into small doses. The profits from the sales were distributed among all group members at the end of the month, with a significant part of the finances being withdrawn through cryptocurrencies.
On April 30, law enforcement officers conducted 24 searches in the Cherkasy, Kyiv, Odessa, and Mykolaiv regions, during which almost 3 million hryvnias in various currencies, packages with drugs and psychotropic substances, mobile phones, bank cards, and draft notes were seized.
The persons involved in the case are suspected of several articles of the Criminal Code, in particular:
- creation and participation in a criminal organization (Article 255),
- illegal manufacture and sale of drugs (Article 307),
- sale of poisonous substances (Article 321),
- legalization of proceeds from crime (Article 306).
The issue of choosing preventive measures is being resolved, and the seized substances have been sent for examination. Investigative actions are ongoing to identify other possible accomplices. The Uman District Prosecutor’s Office and the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor’s Office carry out procedural management.
