Since the beginning of the year, law enforcement officers have seized more than 2.5 thousand units of firearms from illegal circulation
This was announced by the Head of the National Police of Ukraine Igor Klymenko today, October 26, during a joint meeting of the heads of law enforcement agencies in the Office of the Prosecutor General on combating criminal offenses in the field of illegal circulation of weapons, ammunition or explosives, narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances as well as human trafficking.
Igor Klymenko stressed that the fight against the illegal circulation of weapons, explosives and ammunition is an important point in the work of law enforcement agencies, because “war souvenirs” make themselves felt in the peaceful territories of the state:
“Some are even trying to organize arms trafficking channels. More than 2.5 thousand units of firearms were seized from illegal circulation. Of this number, 146 units were automatic, 696 were rifled weapons, 179 were grenade launchers.”
Also since the beginning of the year, police have seized 1245 units processed into firearms and more than 3 thousand grenades. The investigation was completed and almost 2 thousand facts in the field of illegal trafficking of weapons and ammunition were sent to the court with an indictment. As a result, 2,800 people are prosecuted.
“Work is also underway to document criminal groups specializing in the illegal circulation of weapons. To date, criminal proceedings against 11 organized criminal groups involved in illegal arms trafficking have been investigated and sent with indictments to the court, including 53 crimes of this category,” Igor Klymenko said.
At the same time, the head of the National Police said that one of the other priority areas of the department's work remains the fight against drug crime:
“We reformatted the work of the profile unit. Our main goal is to make drugs disappear from the streets of our cities as much as possible. We changed our approach to work and focused on manufacturers and wholesalers, that is, on serious and particularly serious drug crimes. And as a result, this year we eliminated 35 percent more drug labs. 24 percent more documented facts of drug trafficking, including a third more facts of distribution of drugs through the Internet.
Igor Klymenko noted that every fifth fact of drug sales was carried out through the Internet. Telegram channels remain popular in the field of drug business:
“Everyone could see their names on fences, walls of houses. This undisguised outrageous advertising of online drug stores is a phenomenon that the police will not be able to overcome alone. Here, the help of the public is especially needed - parents, neighbors, teachers, municipal workers. Each of the citizens can unite and join the permanent actions of drawing these inscriptions. Everyone can become an assistant and an informant for the police, reporting on the advertising of the channel with narcotic drugs. And chatbots have already shown their effectiveness in this direction.”
In particular, Kharkiv University of Internal Affairs has developed a chatbot “StopNarkotik”. The police, with the help of the public, managed to block more than 2,600 Internet addresses involved in the sale of drugs.
“In total, within 9 months it was possible to expose the activities of almost 750 online stores. 170 of them are wholesale. Currently 160 wholesale telegram channels are blocked. In place of the blocked ones after a while, new ones appear. And we document them too. Currently, about 170 wholesale online stores for the sale of drugs and precursors are under operational development,” Igor Klymenko said.
According to the head of the National Police, in general, in 2021, almost 11 thousand offenders received reports of suspicion for committing drug crimes. Almost 1.5 tons of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were seized.
At the same time, Igor Klymenko noted that the National Police makes maximum efforts to identify and stop the facts of human trafficking:
“During the 21st year, the migration police detected 59 percent more and 47 percent more investigated crimes in this category. This year, more than 70 offenders received reports of suspicion. The illegal activities of 8 organized groups, the participants of which committed more than 50 crimes related to human trafficking, were stopped. According to the results of the work carried out, more than 150 victims have been identified, of which almost 90 are men, more than 40 women, more than 20 minors and young children.
Igor Klymenko stressed that in addition to the facts of internal human trafficking, the migration police actively works with international partners, conducting joint investigations. In particular, according to the results of the work of one such Ukrainian-French joint investigative group, a channel of trade by Ukrainians for their exploitation in France was exposed.
“In order to more effectively investigate crimes of this category, appropriate specialization of investigators has been introduced at the regional level, who continuously improve their qualifications and acquire international experience with the support of the International Organization for Migration and the OSCE,” added Igor Klymenko.
Communication Management
National Police of Ukraine
Photo: Mykola Anatsky
