Intl drug trafficking channel liquidated, 123 suspects notified of suspicion – National Police

The National Police of Ukraine has liquidated an international drug trafficking channel: more than 500 searches were conducted, 123 suspects were notified of suspicion, and cross-border drug business channels were blocked within the framework of international cooperation, reported the Head of the National Police Ivan Vyhivsky.

"Large-scale police special operation ‘Rubicon.’ The most powerful blow to the drug business in recent years. Over 500 searches in 21 regions of Ukraine. 34 drug laboratories liquidated. 74 drug warehouses," Vyhivsky wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.

According to the Head of the National Police, the full cycle of illegal production and sale of synthetic drugs has been destroyed — from the smuggling of precursors from EU countries to large-scale online distribution via marketplaces, anonymous platforms, and messengers.

"Within the framework of international interaction, together with Europol and the Central Investigation Bureau of the Police of the Republic of Poland, a synchronous stage of the operation was carried out, which allowed for the blocking of cross-border drug trafficking channels," Vyhivsky noted.

In total, as he emphasized, four organized groups and a criminal organization were exposed, some of which operated in a transnational format. "123 suspects have already been notified of suspicion," the Head of the National Police specified.

He pointed out that the approximate monthly production capacity of this infrastructure was over 700 kg of narcotic products, with expected profits reaching hundreds of millions of hryvnias.

"The total volume of seized prohibited substances that did not enter illegal circulation exceeds 27 million doses, and their value at ‘black market’ prices is about UAH 400 million. These are millions of doses that did not reach the streets of our cities and will not destroy Ukrainian families," concluded the Head of the National Police.