A distribution network for stolen goods has been uncovered in Zaporizhzhia, with over a tonne of the substance seized
Operatives from the Anti-Drug Crime Division of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, in conjunction with the Anti-Drug Crime Department of the National Police of Ukraine and investigators from the Zaporizhzhia District Police Directorate, have uncovered a group of individuals involved in the illegal trafficking of the narcotic substance kratom.
According to the pre-trial investigation, the organiser of the scheme is a 40-year-old resident of Kyiv. He established the supply of wholesale consignments of Mitragyna speciosa, ensured their storage, packaging and subsequent distribution within Ukraine.
The suspect was also responsible for running a Telegram channel through which orders were taken, quantities agreed and the dispatch of the substance via postal services to various regions of the country organised.
According to the investigation, three other individuals were involved in the group’s activities. A 38-year-old co-organiser was responsible for packaging and disguising kratom as legal products. A 45-year-old Kyiv resident managed online orders. Another 29-year-old Kyiv resident acted as a packer.
To store and package bulk consignments of 500 kilograms or more, the group members used a large rented non-residential premises. The kratom, disguised as legal goods, was subsequently sold through logistics companies and supplied to individual shops, particularly in Zaporizhzhia.
On 16 March, law enforcement officers, with the support of the KORD special unit and under the procedural guidance of the Dnipro District Prosecutor’s Office in Zaporizhzhia, carried out three authorised and two urgent searches at the suspects’ residences, their places of business and in their vehicles.
As a result, over 1,100 kilograms of cannabis, a car, eight mobile phones, electronic scales, a laptop, a vacuum sealer, packaging materials, documentation and rough notes were seized. The estimated value of the seized items at black market prices is over 10.5 million hryvnias.
All the seized items were sent for forensic examination.
The group’s organiser was detained in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. He has already been notified of the suspicion under Part 3 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The issue of imposing a preventive measure on the suspect, as well as notifying the other members of the group of the charges against them, is currently being decided. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
