The SBU blocked hard drugs smuggling to the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk region through Russia.

Allegedly, a resident of temporarily occupied Donetsk set up the drug trafficking. The offender bought drugs from dealers of Zaporizzhia region and smuggled it in his own car through the contact line. Due to lockdown restrictions, the dealer developed a new route via Russia and expanded a customer base there. According to intelligence, the profit of such drug trafficking amounted to UAH 2.5 million (USD 88,300) per month.

In accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, law enforcement officers detained the mastermind at Hoptivka checkpoint during another attempt to transfer almost 400 grams of methadone across the state border. The smuggler hid the drugs in the car upholstery. The cost of the seized “goods” on the “black market” is UAH 600,000 (USD 21,200).

Within the framework of criminal proceedings initiated upon the fact of smuggling of narcotics, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors, the issues of serving a notice of suspicion to the detainee and choosing the type of detention are being settled.

The investigation is ongoing. Other persons involved in the drug trafficking are being identified.

The operation was conducted by the SBU Offices in Zaporizzhia and Kharkiv regions jointly with the State Border Guard and the State Customs Services of Kharkiv region under the procedural supervision of the Zaporizzhia Region Prosecutor's Office.