Oleksandr Gogilashvili: The priority task of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police is to “clean up” drug crime on the streets of cities and on the Internet

25.02.2020 16:01

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Oleksandr Gogilashvili said about this today, February 25.

“The scale of the disaster that has engulfed our country — drug crime — is very large. Unfortunately, its result is more than 2 million drug-addicted citizens in Ukraine. This is a big problem, so the fight against this shameful and destructive phenomenon is a priority task of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police,” the deputy minister said.

He also stressed the importance of carrying out preventive measures with citizens regarding the negative consequences of drug use and, accordingly, legal responsibility.

“Our task is to minimize drug crime on the streets of settlements. For this, preventive work is important, which we will carry out in all regions of Ukraine,” Oleksandr Gogilashvili said.

Oleksandr Gogilashvili spoke about a large-scale special operation conducted by law enforcement officers in Poltava and Cherkasy regions. As a result, a group of dealers who sold drugs to citizens was detained.

“Operatives of various units of the National Police, together with special agents, conducted more than 120 sanctioned searches in Poltava and Cherkasy regions. As a result, a variety of narcotic and psychotropic substances were removed. Currently, a complex of operational and investigative actions is ongoing. Appointed relevant examinations”, - said the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

In addition, he stressed that residents of Cherkasy and Poltava regions for a long time appealed to the local government with information about the functioning of national sales in the regions, but, unfortunately, there was no proper reaction.

“The appeals of people who came in for several years were studied by us. Based on the information provided and information of the police, a large-scale operational work was carried out to expose and detain offenders who sold drugs. Preventive work with the public has also been carried out,” he said.

The Deputy Minister noted that the operatives currently working in the Department of Narcotics of the National Police are professionals who do their job qualitatively to eliminate this negative phenomenon and save the lives of our citizens.

“So far we have started work from Cherkasy and Poltava regions. Then we go to other regions of Ukraine. We will work preventively and make every effort to eradicate drug crime from the country as far as possible within our competence. Individuals who “trade the lives” of our citizens will no longer sleep peacefully! Let's not give!” - added Alexander Gogilashvili.