Police detained three people accused of growing cannabis in a greenhouse on the grounds of a private home in Lviv Oblast, processing it and selling it to drug-dependent people in Lviv and the surrounding region.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

One of the three was a Ukrainian armed forces serviceman who, according to police, had forged a medical history to be discharged on health grounds while dealing drugs.[1][9][2][10][4][5][6][7][8] Officers of the National Police’s Department of Internal Security found the group while investigating a scheme of forged medical documents used to release servicemen from duty, and the detectives work with Lviv region police investigators.[9] The operation was carried out in cooperation with the Department of Internal Security of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[11]

The three were detained during another hand-over, with special police unit officers assisting, the police said.[1][9][12][4] Searches at the suspects’ homes, using handlers and sniffer dogs, turned up about 15 kilograms of cannabis, cash and other evidence.[1][2][3][12][4][6][8][11] Police estimated the black-market value of the drugs at about 4.5 million hryvnia.[1][2][3][10][12][4][5][6][7][8][11]

The plants were dried, ground and packed on the same property into “shaiby” — slang for packages each holding about 20 grams of ready-to-use cannabis — which normally sold for 6,000 hryvnia each, police said.[1][9][4] Police said the cannabis was handed over to buyers mainly during in-person meetings.[10][12][4]

Investigators told all three they were suspected under Article 307, part 2 or part 3, of the Criminal Code, on illegal production, storage, transport and sale of drugs.[1][2][3][12][4][5][6][8] Those parts of the article carry up to 10 or up to 12 years in prison respectively, and the regional defence prosecutor’s office is supervising the case.[9][4] The pre-trial investigation is continuing, the police said.[13][4][5]