Ukrainian and Bulgarian law enforcement agencies have dismantled an international drug trafficking network that operated across the two countries, arresting eight suspects and seizing psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals worth more than UAH 40 million.
The operation involved officers from the National Police of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), investigators from the Kyiv region police, and Bulgarian law enforcement authorities.
According to the National Police, the investigation was carried out in two stages, beginning in Bulgaria, where officers shut down an underground drug laboratory in the city of Burgas.
During the raid, police arrested the alleged organizer of the criminal network, a 39-year-old native of Ukraine's Chernivtsi region, along with a 31-year-old chemist from Ivano-Frankivsk region who was responsible for manufacturing the drugs.
"The suspects established a complete production and distribution chain for psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals," the National Police said. "They manufactured the substances in an underground laboratory before transporting them to accomplices in Ukraine."
Investigators said the group smuggled drugs and precursor chemicals across the border using international passenger buses, concealing the shipments among passengers' luggage before they were delivered to associates in the Chernivtsi region.
Searches of the Bulgarian laboratory uncovered 50 kilograms of psychotropic substances, including alpha-PVP, mephedrone and amphetamine, as well as 150 litres of precursor chemicals, 200 litres of chemical compounds, laboratory equipment and other evidence. The seized drugs and materials are estimated to be worth more than UAH 40 million.
The second phase of the operation took place in Ukraine, where officers arrested six additional suspects in the Chernivtsi region.
Police said the group was responsible for receiving the smuggled drugs, packaging them, arranging deliveries through postal services, creating hidden drug caches and distributing the substances across Ukraine.
Supported by KORD special police units, rapid response officers and the SSU, investigators carried out 32 searches, seizing amphetamine, cannabis, packaging materials, cash, bank cards, mobile phones, laptops, flash drives and handwritten records. Three vehicles belonging to the suspects, valued at nearly UAH 1.8 million, were also confiscated.
The suspects are under investigation on multiple charges, including the illegal manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, drug smuggling, and the illegal handling of precursor chemicals.
The National Police said the investigation is ongoing and that authorities are working to identify other individuals involved in the international drug trafficking network.
