In Dnipropetrovsk region, the police exposed a group of cannabis sellers with an income of about one million hryvnias every month
Eight underground laboratories, which functioned continuously, were organized by five residents of Kryvyi Rih. The attackers grew elite varieties of cannabis plants, dried, processed, and sold to drug addicts. At present, all offenders have been detained in a procedural manner, the issue of declaring suspicion to them under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is being resolved.
The illegal activities of the criminal group were exposed by the operatives of the Dnipropetrovsk Department for Combating Drug Crimes of the DBN together with the investigators of the district police department and under the procedural guidance of the Kryvyi Rih Eastern District Prosecutor's Office.
The police found that the group consisted of five residents of Kryvyi Rih — four men and one woman. For the continuous cultivation of cannabis plants at different times of the year, the intruders organized eight underground drug laboratories. They were located in the attackers' own apartments and the houses they rented.
The drug-containing plants were grown by dealers in special greenhouses using hydroponics. In particular, the premises were equipped with special light, devices to maintain the necessary humidity, temperature and plant nutrition with mineral fertilizers. Then the offenders packed the already finished cannabis inflorescences for further sale to customers. In addition to cannabis, the attackers also made and sold hemp cookies with their own hands.
Dealers searched for customers through their own virtual Internet store, the “goods” were delivered by mail. The calculation was made through electronic wallets. Monthly income from the sale of cannabis reached one million hryvnias. This money they spent on the purchase of real estate, transport and recreation in elite resorts.
Yesterday, August 18, law enforcement officers with the strong support of soldiers of the special unit KORD conducted searches in the locations of underground greenhouses. During the searches, the police seized more than 6 kg of cannabis, 3 kg of hemp cookies, 150 bushes of elite varieties of hemp plants, more than 300 thousand hryvnias and 13 thousand US dollars. Bank cards, scales and equipment for growing drug-containing plants have also been seized.
The estimated cost of seized drugs is 1.5 million hryvnias at “black” market prices.
All defendants were detained in accordance with Art. 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The issue of notifying attackers of suspicion of committing criminal offenses provided for in Part 2 of Art. 307 (Illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, shipment or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues) and part 2 of Art. 310 (Sowing or cultivation of dreamy poppy or hemp) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
For what he has done, he faces punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 10 years with confiscation of property.
Department for Combating Drug Crimes
National Police of Ukraine
