National Police Expose Criminal Group That Hijacked Coal Cargo Trains
The organized criminal group operated on the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region. The facts of theft of coal transported by rail, weighing more than 115 tons, were recorded. During the searches, about 400 tons of stolen coal were seized from the intruders.
The criminal activities of a stable group of investigators of the Main Investigation Department together with the operatives of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine were documented.
The organizer of the transaction, a 33-year-old resident of the Dnipropetrovsk region, involved at least seven people in criminal actions, among whom roles were clearly distributed.
During the investigation, it was established that the defendants received from their sources information about the presence of coal in the wagons at the station in the village. Nikolaevka Petropavlovsky district, placement of railway platform guards, after which they penetrated the territory of the station, loaded coal from wagons to pre-harvested vehicles and transported to designated storage places.
In the future, the stolen coal was sold, and the organizer distributed the money among the participants of the organized group.
Currently, 15 episodes of criminal activity have been documented, the losses of which amount to almost half a million hryvnias.
60 searches were carried out at the place of residence of the defendants and places of storage of stolen coal. As a result, the vehicles used in the theft, automatic weapons and ammunition, the RGT5 grenade, telephones, documentation on the sale of coal, draft records, 2 million 445 thousand UAH, 41400 thousand US dollars and coal weighing about 400 tons were seized.
At the moment, the organizer and seven members of the organized group have been informed of suspicion of committing the crimes stipulated in part 5 of Art. 185 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (theft).
The sanction of the article provides for imprisonment for up to 12 years with confiscation of property.
The investigation is ongoing. Procedural guidance is carried out by prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Department of Communications of the National Police
