Border guards and cyber police exposed and dismantled a multi-million dollar drug smuggling and counterfeiting scheme
The defendants arranged the supply of medical products of dubious origin, from transportation across the border to receipt in retail pharmacy chains. A
large-scale transnational channel of smuggling drugs with signs of counterfeit drugs across the state border of Ukraine was discovered in the framework of criminal proceedings initiated according to the Department of Operations activities of the State Border Guard Service.
The events under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine were carried out by joint groups of employees of the State Border Service of Ukraine, investigators of the State Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine and employees of the Department of Combating Cyber Crimes of Kyiv region. Specialists of the State Medical Service of Ukraine and with the strong support of the border special unit DOZOR were also involved in them.
A MAN car was detained at the border with the Russian Federation at the checkpoint “Bachivsk”. It found drugs with signs of counterfeit, boxes for medicines and instructions for use for them.
At the same time, searches were carried out in Kyiv of persons whose role was to receive smuggled supplies and further distribution of the received products to the pharmacy network for the purpose of sale. There were also searches in pharmacies involved in the retail trade of drugs with signs of counterfeit.
In total, more than 10 thousand units of medical products of more than 1000 items have been seized, the cost of which can be estimated at millions of hryvnias. Everything is aimed at conducting relevant expert research.
Police officers conducted searches in the homes of the defendants, as well as in the pharmacy chain, where retail trade was carried out.
Criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 305 (Smuggling of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors or counterfeit medicines), part 2 of Art. 321-1 (Counterfeiting of medicines or circulation of counterfeit medicines), part 3 of Art. 229 (Illegal use of a mark for goods and services, brand name, qualified indication of the origin of goods) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
