New distribution scheme for highly dangerous drug kratom uncovered in Ukraine
Law enforcement officers have uncovered the activities of a criminal organization that established the smuggling of the narcotic drug kratom from the Czech Republic and its sale by mail across Ukraine.
According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Investigators established that the scheme had been operating since April 2024. For the sake of secrecy, the banned substance was sold under the guise of dietary supplements, using the logistics company Nova Poshta.
During the documentation of the criminal activity, facts were uncovered indicating the sale of the narcotic drug to servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
To expose the perpetrators, law enforcement agencies carried out a series of operational measures, including controlled purchases.
On January 26, a large-scale special operation was conducted: more than 20 searches were carried out simultaneously in the capital, as well as in the Kyiv, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions – at the homes of those involved, in premises where drugs were stored and packaged, and in vehicles. As a result, law enforcement officers seized more than 500 kilograms of narcotic substances with a wholesale value exceeding five million hryvnias, as well as cash, bank cards, and packaging equipment.
Six suspects were detained in accordance with procedural law. They were served notices of suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 2, Article 255 – participation in a criminal organization
- Part 4, Article 28 and Part 3, Article 307 – illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, mailing, or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, or their analogues committed by a criminal organization;
- Part 4, Article 28 and Part 3, Article 305 – smuggling of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors, or counterfeit medicines committed by a criminal organization.
The court has already chosen a preventive measure for the suspects in the form of detention without the right to bail.
As reported, in October 2025, law enforcement officers uncovered an extensive kratom distribution network in the Ternopil region. The drugs were sold in food establishments and gyms, disguised as matcha tea and dietary supplements. Cases of drug use among children aged 12–13 were documented. At that time, 29 people were notified of suspicion, including five minors.
In December, law enforcement conducted 12 authorized searches in the Rivne and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, identified new participants in the criminal scheme, and established that they were engaged in the distribution of kratom across the country.