Prosecutors of the Odesa Region Prosecutor’s Office sent to court the case against a former junior inspector of the Izmail pre-trial detention centre in Odesa Oblast.[1] The jail was the Izmail pre-trial detention centre, according to Suspilne Odesa and Informer.[2] Investigators say the 25-year-old bought methadone, cannabis and the psychotropic substance PVP in July 2026 to sell to people held in custody.[1] According to the State Bureau of Investigation, he agreed with one of the people held there to deliver the drugs onto the jail’s grounds.[2]

He put the drugs in a plastic wrap and hid it inside a soft SpongeBob toy, which he carried into the institution in a bag among his personal belongings.[3] During a search of his belongings at the checkpoint, staff found and seized 0.067 g of methadone, more than 73 g of cannabis and 4.5 g of PVP; the tracker records only the cannabis weight.[3][4] Suspilne reported that the jail’s internal control staff made the find on a subsequent attempt to bring the banned substances in.[2] Informer reported that the detection was carried out with the assistance of the SBU, Ukraine’s security service.[5]

Prosecutors charged him under part 2 of article 307 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, and the investigation was carried out by the State Bureau of Investigation’s territorial unit in Mykolaiv, based in Odesa.[3] The charge is unlawful acquisition and transport of drugs and an especially dangerous psychotropic substance with intent to sell, under part 2 of article 307.[1] The pre-trial investigation is complete and the indictment has been sent to court, and the man remains in custody, facing up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property if convicted.[2] He was notified of the suspicion in September 2026.[3] Informer reported that the case was investigated as part of the nationwide Stop Traffik special operation.[5]