Prosecutors from the Sheptych District Prosecutor’s Office have sent an indictment to court against a 61-year-old local resident who was part of an organized group involved in the production and distribution of opium.
The investigation established that during 2017, the accused distributed a particularly dangerous narcotic substance, ‘acetylated opium,’ in the Sheptych district. Besides him, the criminal group included a local couple: the group organizer and his wife. The roles were clearly distributed. The organizer was responsible for coordinating the illegal activities of the group, purchasing raw materials (poppy straw), and directly manufacturing opium from it.
His wife was involved in distributing the drug among dependent individuals and also in purchasing raw materials. The third group member, acting as an executor, was responsible for bulk purchases of poppy straw and transporting it to the organizer’s residence for further opium production. In mid-December 2017, the criminal group’s illegal activities were stopped by law enforcement officers.
At that time, the court chose the preventative measure of custody with the right to bail for the executor. The man posted bail and fled to Germany to evade justice. However, thanks to cooperation with international law enforcement organizations, his extradition from Germany was achieved, and he was handed over to Ukraine last December.
The man is charged with illegal acquisition, storage, transportation with intent to sell, illegal sale of particularly dangerous narcotic substances as part of an organized group, as well as a completed attempt to illegally sell particularly dangerous narcotic substances as part of an organized group (Part 3 of Art. 307, Part 2 of Art. 15 – Part 3 of Art. 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). At the request of the prosecution, the strictest measure of restraint was chosen for him – detention without the right to bail.
Regarding the organizer and his wife, the appellate court has returned the case for retrial in the first instance, and the court proceedings are ongoing. The pre-trial investigation is conducted by the Sheptych District Police Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Lviv region.
Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until proven guilty in a legal manner and established by a conviction of the court.