Ukraine and Poland exposed a group supplying precursors in baby food

Law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and Poland have exposed the activities of a group suspected of illegally supplying precursors to Ukraine and manufacturing amphetamine. 10 members of the group were detained, six of whom were in the EU, and four in Zaporizhia and Kryvyi Rih. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine .

According to the investigation, every month, about 50,000 tablets containing pseudoephedrine, a precursor used to manufacture amphetamine, were imported into Ukraine in packaging disguised as animal feed and baby food.

Part of the imported contraband was sold through a network of dealers, the rest was used by the group to manufacture drugs in its own drug laboratory.

The group's monthly profit was over $100,000.

According to the SBU, two brothers from Zaporizhzhia are suspected of organizing drug trafficking. One of them left for the EU in early 2022, where he formed a foreign "wing" of the group, which was responsible for smuggling precursors into Ukraine.

The second suspect remained in Zaporizhia to coordinate the import of prohibited substances and their sale in various regions of Ukraine.

After receiving the contraband, the defendant distributed the precursors across the country using buses or postal services.

Part of the substance remained in a drug laboratory in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where it was used to produce amphetamine.

SBU officers, together with Polish prosecutors and police officers, documented the functioning of drug trafficking, identified all its participants, and simultaneously detained them during a special operation.

During searches at the locations of the suspects in Ukraine and the EU, precursors prepared for sale and psychotropic substances produced from them, as well as equipment for the synthesis of narcotic substances, were discovered.

Computer equipment, mobile phones, bank cards, draft notes, money and cars were also seized.

Currently, SBU investigators have informed the detainees in Ukraine of suspicion under four articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: smuggling of precursors (Part 3, Article 305); illegal manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, shipment or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues (Part 3, Article 307); illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation or shipment of precursors (Part 3, Article 311) and organization or maintenance of places for illegal use, production or manufacture of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues (Part 2, Article 317).

The suspects are in custody. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. The issue of declaring them under additional suspicion for creating and participating in a criminal organization is also being considered.

The suspects in the case detained abroad were brought to justice in accordance with the legislation of EU countries, the SBU noted.

• On May 13, it was reported that the police were conducting over 200 searches as part of a special operation to eliminate the drug trade in Ukraine. During the searches, the police documented the facts of the production and sale of drugs on an "industrial scale."
• Among the psychotropic substances seized during the special operation were alpha-PVP, amphetamine, and mephedrone.
• On May 14, it was reported that the National Police conducted the largest special operation to eliminate the drug trade in Ukraine , during which the activities of an interregional criminal organization for the manufacture and sale of psychotropic substances were suspended.