A 58-year-old resident of the Lviv community has been served with a new notice of suspicion for selling weapons and ammunition, as well as transporting and storing cocaine in particularly large quantities. This is reported on the basis of investigative data under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation established that the man, while already standing trial in another case and having posted bail, set up illegal activities. In June this year, he retrieved from a cache near the Bryukhovychi forest a Stechkin automatic pistol with cartridges, transported it and buried it near one of the villages in Yavoriv district, creating a so-called “dead drop” and recording the coordinates for the buyer.
In August, according to the investigation, the suspect received a master stash of cocaine for further sale. In his own Tesla Model S he transported the package with the drug to the area of the Zapytiv cemetery, where he also buried it. Law enforcement officers managed to seize the package: recalculated as pure substance, it contained almost 650 g of cocaine, with an estimated value on the black market of almost UAH 7 million.
During searches, officers found and seized three packages containing a white powdery substance (believed to be cocaine), a pistol with a magazine, a further four pistol magazines, a pistol barrel, two grenade fuses, more than 500 rounds of various calibres and an item resembling a hunting weapon. All seized explosive items, weapons, ammunition and suspected narcotic substances have been sent for expert examination.
The community resident is charged with the illegal acquisition, storage, carrying and sale of firearms (other than smoothbore hunting weapons) and ammunition without the permit required by law, as well as the illegal acquisition, storage and transportation for the purpose of sale of a narcotic drug in particularly large quantities, committed by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy (Part 1 of Article 263, Part 3 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
It is reported that this is not the first such episode involving the suspect. Last year, for selling a TT pistol with cartridges, a silencer and spare parts for it, he was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment and released from serving the sentence with a 2-year probationary period. In addition, the man is also on trial in another case concerning the sale of cocaine as part of an organised criminal group: receiving the drug from accomplices from Ternopil region, he was, according to the investigation, responsible for its distribution among residents of Lviv region, which brought the group members approximately UAH 8 million a month. The indictment in this case is currently being considered by the court.
At the request of the prosecution, the suspect has been remanded in custody under the strictest preventive measure, with no right to bail. Investigative actions are ongoing, with other individuals involved in the trade in weapons and the sale of prohibited substances being identified. The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the Main Department of the National Police in Lviv region with operational support from the Department of Strategic Investigations in Lviv region of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine Office in Lviv region.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and may not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt has been proven in the manner prescribed by law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.