Smugglers tried to bring a drone with explosives to Odesa

The Security Service of Ukraine has detained smugglers who were to deliver a fiber-optic-controlled strike drone with explosives to Odesa at the request of the Russian Federal Security Service.

This was reported by the SBU press service.

According to the case file, the dealers hid the munitions among a wholesale batch of tobacco products that were illegally smuggled across the Black Sea from the temporarily occupied Abkhazia.

The smugglers' route was towards neutral waters near Zmiinyi Island, where their goods were transferred from the main vessel to small boats to be covertly delivered to the Odesa coast.

The SBU officers documented every step of the offenders and detained 4 criminals red-handed when they delivered the excisable goods with munitions to the Odesa port area.

The investigation established that the organizer of the smuggling channel is an Odesa businessman who is abroad and engaged in illegal business in the temporarily occupied Abkhazia. In exchange for permission to engage in smuggling in the Caucasus, he cooperated with the FSB.

At the request of Russian special services, the defendant agreed to deliver an attack drone to Odesa. He involved three businessmen from Odesa and a local border guard in the illegal activity, who was to ensure the unimpeded passage of the defendants' vessels to the coast of the regional center.

In addition, on the way back, the criminals were to pick up the brother of the organizer of the channel from the city and take him out of Ukraine by sea. The detainees were served a notice of suspicion of illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine.

The issue of additional qualification of their crimes for smuggling weapons and excisable goods, as well as serving notices of suspicion to other participants in the illegal scheme is being decided. The organizer of the scheme is being served a notice of suspicion in absentia. The offenders face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Кирило Бойко