The Sumy Oblast Prosecutor’s Office has approved and sent to court an indictment against two men accused of organising the illegal trafficking of banned substances.[1] One defendant was 17 and his accomplice 27 when the first offence was committed.[2]

According to the investigation, the scheme ran in Okhtyrka in 2025, where the younger man bought large batches of psychotropic substances and drugs through a messaging app.[1] He stored and packaged the goods in rented flats and sold the banned substances in small batches.[1] He later invited a relative to join, and the 27-year-old partner, who found customers and sold the substances, had a prior conviction and was released early in 2025.[1] The pair coordinated through a messenger and, to conceal their activity, constantly changed phone numbers and invented new personal details when sending the substances.[1]

Investigators documented the ordering, receipt and sale of cannabis, hallucinogenic mushrooms and methamphetamine, alongside more than 1.5 kg of the psychotropic substance 4-SMS and more than 700 g of PVP.[1] The substances were sold not only across Sumy Oblast but beyond it.[1] During searches, officers seized packaging equipment, electronic scales and cash.[1]

The men are charged under parts 2 and 3 of Article 307 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code with illegal purchase, storage, transport, sending with intent to sell and illegal sale of narcotics and psychotropic substances, committed repeatedly by prior conspiracy of a group in large and especially large amounts.[1] The offences carry up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.[2] The pre-trial investigation was completed by the National Police in Sumy Oblast together with strategic investigations officers, the 5th Border Detachment and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Sumy Oblast, under the procedural supervision of juvenile prosecutors.[1]