The officers of the SBU Cyber ​​Department documented and blocked large-scale sales of drugs and psychotropic substances via the Internet.

The operatives established that the illegal scheme was organized by the IT specialists from the city of Kyiv. They rented a private house, where they set up a laboratory for the production of psychotropic substances in especially large amount.

The members of the drug gang bought precursors and sold the drugs via their online stores. Payments were made with the help of electronic payment systems and cryptocurrencies.

The group acted secretly. In particular, its members used secret apartments to cover up illegal activities. The offenders sold the drugs using caches or sent them by postal operators. Mainly the clients were young people.

Allegedly, the offenders have been acting for more than a year, with a monthly turnover of UAH 2 million (USD 70,000).

The SBU conducted 8 searches of the drug laboratory and the offenders’ residences . Almost 300 kilograms of precursors and chemicals, 20 kilograms of PVP, more than 200 MDMA pills, 3 kilograms of cannabis, 100 grams of amphetamine were seized. Allegedly, the value of the seized drugs at black market prices is almost UAH 10 million (USD 360,000).

The law enforcement detained 7 members of the group, including its organizers. The issue of serving the offenders a notice of suspicion of illegal production, making, purchasing, storage, transportation, sending or sale of narcotics, psychotropic substances or their analogues is being decided. For such an offense the article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides 9-12 years of imprisonment with seizure of property.

The investigation is ongoing.

The operation was conducted  jointly with the Main Department of the National Police in Kyiv under the supervision of Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office.