Man with a suitcase of heroin worth a million dollars detained in Odesa

Law enforcement officers detained a foreign national in Odesa who was trying to smuggle 15 kilograms of heroin from Turkey to Europe, which, according to preliminary estimates, is worth 63 million hryvnias, or more than $1 million.

This was reported by the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast.

According to the police, during the year, police operatives and border guards documented the criminal activities of a group of people who organized the transit of heroin to the European Union through Ukraine. The drug trafficking involved citizens of other countries, some of whom temporarily reside in Odesa. The latter acted as couriers. They were sent coordinates with heroin caches. The received goods were then delivered to European countries.

Law enforcement officers detained a courier with a suitcase of heroin. In total, 15 kilograms of the drug, money, a car, mobile phones, bank cards, and draft records were seized. Currently, investigators have served the detainee with a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 307 (Illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, shipment or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the court has taken him into custody.

If proven guilty, the man faces up to 12 years in prison.

In June, a court in Odesa handed down a verdict against members of the world-famous Ndrangheta criminal organization who were found guilty of drug smuggling and sale. It was a consignment of cocaine that was detained in August 2021 at the Pivdennyi port.

They were planning to smuggle the drugs in transit through Ukraine to a foreign country. A week later, law enforcement officers seized another batch of cocaine at the port. A total of 120 kilograms worth $20 million.

Кирило Бойко