Oleksandr Gogilashvili: Reforming the Department for Combating Drug Crimes of the National Police in a short period gave a significant result

04.05.2020 15:21

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Oleksandr Gogilashvili told about the reform, drug policy and unprecedented operations of detention of drug offenders.

Drug business is one of the top super-profitable activities, which with minimal investment brings incredible profits. But this is where the whole positive of this field of activity for some people ends. Millions of addicts, ruined families, imprisonment, incurable diseases, many deaths. In general, an innumerable number of broken destinies.

Recently, record seizures of narcotic substances and unprecedented detentions of members of criminal groups have been carried out on the territory of Ukraine. Tons of drugs and precursors, hundreds of millions of hryvnias, dozens of detainees are the result of painstaking work, professional guidance and planning, as well as the coordinated work of all systems at different levels.

“There is no greater motivation than saving other people. It is impossible to be aloof from what happens due to the activities of drug offenders. The “trade of death” is one of the most cynical and dirty spheres of human activity. The primary task of the state is to ensure a constant and powerful counteraction to the criminal acts of drug offenders,” Oleksandr Gogilashvili said.

Since his appointment to the post of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Oleksandr Gogilashvili began the implementation of the new drug policy and initiated the creation of the Department of Internal Affairs in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ensure the formation of state policy in the field of combating drug crime. The first step was the reform of the Department for Combating Drug Crimes of the National Police, which in a short period was reflected in a significant result:

The number of drugs seized increased by 6 times (almost 3 tons);
6,9 thousand people were prosecuted, which is 24% more than in the same period last year;
The number of documented criminal offenses related to the sale of narcotic substances increased by 35% (it amounts to 3.4 thousand);
The effectiveness of prosecuting drug dealers increased by 17% (1,130 people);
4 times more centers of sale of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances using the Internet have been documented (598 in total);
88 clandestine drug labs were exposed.

Oleksandr Gogilashvili said that the reform of the Department for Combating Drug Crime was extremely necessary, because there are up to 2.5 million drug addicts among Ukrainians, and this is a huge pain for families. At this time, the monthly income of drug dealers is up to 30 million hryvnias.

“Department operatives have already conducted several large-scale special operations, one of them for 110 million dollars, the second for 2 million US dollars. In the entire history of Ukraine's independence, such a party and such an organized criminal group were detained for the first time. It was a kind of “pyramid”. And many consumers wrote that for the first time in the last 7 years they were left without products,” the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs noted.