National Police dismantles large-scale drug gang and seizes drugs and psychotropics worth UAH 15 million
Law enforcers dismantled a criminal group that made money by selling illegal substances through an online store using the Telegram messenger. A police special operation was conducted in eleven regions: five criminals were detained, two drug labs were dismantled and drugs worth millions of hryvnias were seized.
The operation was carried out by operatives of the Department for Combating Drug Crimes in cooperation with the departments for combating drug crimes and investigative police departments in Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Lviv, Volyn, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk and Rivne regions with the support of the KORD, the RPOP department of the Mykolaiv regional police under the procedural supervision of the territorial regional prosecutor’s offices.
The traffickers organised a large-scale network for the manufacture and sale of drugs through an online store, using the Telegram messenger and a scheme of “master warehouses” and bookmarks throughout Ukraine. The group earned more than UAH 15 million per month from the sale of amphetamine and other drugs produced in their clandestine laboratories located in Vinnytsia and Odesa regions. All financial transactions were carried out exclusively using cryptocurrency. For the sake of secrecy, the criminals constantly changed packaging locations, mobile devices, vehicles and virtual accounts.
One of the members of the criminal group received wholesale consignments of drugs through so-called “master consignments” from laboratories, after which she packaged and shipped them by logistics companies across Ukraine. In addition, she acted as a courier, delivering drugs to different cities on the instructions of the operator, with whom she communicated via the Telegram channel.
On 26 September 2025, during a police special operation, 34 searches were conducted in 11 regions at the group members’ places of residence and stay, as well as in their cars. As a result, two drug laboratories were dismantled and 35 kg of amphetamine (27 kg of which were in liquid form), 1,350 litres of various acids, over 1,000 litres of precursors, 100 kg of zinc oxide, 500 kg of caustic soda, 23 kg of borohydrate, 8 kg of phenylnitropropene, 10 kg of methylamine, etc. were seized. Laboratory equipment, mobile devices, computer equipment, and bank cards were also seized.
According to black market prices, the total value of the seized items exceeds UAH 15 million. Five members of the criminal group aged 19 to 43 were detained. The National Police investigators have already served four of them a notice of suspicion of illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, transfer or sale of narcotic drugs on a particularly large scale or repeatedly (Part 2, 3 Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The issue of serving a notice of suspicion to another accomplice is being settled.
A motion has been filed with the court to impose custody as a measure of restraint on the offenders.
They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.