SBU officers detained the participants of an organized group suspected of involvement into a number of high profile crimes in different regions of the country and abroad.

According to the investigation, the group includes criminals convicted for serious and high crimes. The activity of the group coordinates one of the famous “crime lords” in Ukraine. Group members also have close connections with transnational criminal groups.

Operatives of the special service have received information that a businessman from one of the European countries has been searched perpetrators for killing of former business partner, Ukrainian national for allegedly unpaid debt. According to the investigation, due to the relations in the criminal circles of his country, the foreigner led to the organized groups from Lviv region and ordered to “wheedle out" USD 10 thousand from the former partner. Ukrainian entrepreneur contacted the SBU.

Law enforcement officers detained two active group members in Drohobych according to Art. 208 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine when receiving from the businessman USD 2 thousand - a second part of non-existent debt. In the course of searches at the places of residence of the participants of the group the firearms and cold weapons that the criminals probably used for criminal activities were seized. Besides law enforcement officers detected a large number of certificates of death, property documents of unknown persons, promissory notes on hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as draft records on transactions with illegal mining of amber and mining "farm".

Within the framework of a criminal proceeding initiated under Part 2 Art. 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the investigations on identifying and bringing to criminal responsibility all group members are under way. Currently, the involvement of group in committing a number of high-profile crimes, such as extortion, armed assaults, kidnapping, assassinations in other regions of Ukraine and beyond our country, is being checked.

The detection operation was conducted by the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime with the SBU Office in Lviv region and investigators of the National Police under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.