The National Police carried out a large-scale operation. Law enforcement officers neutralized the activities of the Krivoy Rog drug cartel, whose members supplied drugs to many regions of Ukraine.
On February 27, more than 1,200 law enforcement officers detained 37 members of the Dvadtsatovskie criminal community, including their leaders, representatives of the power bloc, “chemists” and traffickers.
The drug cartel network consisted of three criminal organizations
The organizers of the drug business are three residents of Krivoy Rog who have connections in the criminal environment. They even enlisted the support of several media resources through which they disseminated false materials about law enforcement officers involved in documenting criminal drug groups in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The drug cartel network consisted of three criminal organizations and six organized groups. The organizers carefully selected “staff” and preferred people who had good physical characteristics and connections among those associated with drug trafficking.
And in order to maintain autonomy and complicate the process of documenting criminal activity, representatives of separate links had almost no contact with each other. Therefore, the dealers detained by law enforcement officers did not have information about the activities of the entire drug cartel.
Also, a clear hierarchy and distribution of roles functioned in the criminal organization: control over the work of laboratories, their protection, “chemists”, “financiers”.
Law enforcement officers detained members of the drug cartel: photo of the National Police
The suspects set up drug labs in garages and an apartment in Krivoy Rog. Every month they produced 40 kilograms of ready-made psychotropics. In addition, the leaders of the drug business organized the cultivation of narcotic plants and, in order to expand the range, arranged their purchase from persons whose activities the police also documented and stopped.
The market for the sale of narcotic drugs covered almost all regions of Ukraine. For uninterrupted trade, the defendants thought over the logistics and arrangement of storage points: through an extensive “courier” network, they sold products in large and retail lots by “bookmarks” and by the “hand-to-hand” method.
Reference. Every month, the drug cartel received more than a million US dollars of “profit”. The gang leaders handed over the funds to the leaders, who distributed them among all the persons involved in the drug business.
200 simultaneous searches took place in different cities
On February 27, law enforcement officers conducted more than 200 simultaneous searches, during which they seized narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as precursors.
In addition, 310 thousand US dollars, 103 thousand euros and more than 500 thousand hryvnias, weapons and cartridges of various calibers, ammunition, more than 2 dozen bank cards and mobile phones, “rough” records of the manufacture and sale of drugs, dealers' data, “clients” and debtors, as well as 40 cars, old books and icons.
In total, more than 1,200 law enforcement officers were involved in the events: employees of the Departments of Strategic Investigations, Internal Security, the Main Investigation Department, special forces of the JRS, KORD, SSO, special forces from different regions, employees of operational services and prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
All detainees were reported on suspicion under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- article 255 (creation, management of a criminal organization, as well as participation in it);
- article 307 (illegal manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, transfer and sale of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in especially large amounts).
Investigators of the National Police sent a petition to the court to elect the defendants as a measure of restraint in the form of detention. Six leaders of the criminal organization have already chosen a measure of restraint – detention without the possibility of bail. The values, things and property of the members of the criminal organization will be seized.
How did the police handle the operation?
During the year, employees of the Department of Strategic Investigations and the Main Investigation Department of the National Police, under the procedural leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor General, documented this criminal organization.
Operational developments were carried out in strict secrecy, and a limited number of law enforcement officers knew about the date, time and place of the special operation . As a result, law enforcement officers carefully documented the illegal activities of the drug cartel members, established the places where drugs were manufactured and traced the methods and channels for their sale.
