Investigators at Simferopol police station No. 2 completed a drug case against a 69-year-old local man and sent it to court with an approved indictment, the Republic of Crimea Interior Ministry said.[1] They alleged that in May 2025 he bought cannabis seeds on the dark web and planted them on a fenced private plot hidden from view.[2] By September the plants had matured and he began drying the crop in an outbuilding, according to the ministry account.[1]

During a search of the plot, Simferopol drug-control officers found 13 cannabis plants and more than 21 kilograms of dried marijuana.[1] The man told police he was not selling drugs but growing and drying cannabis to relieve pain from cancer, while accepting that his actions were unlawful.[2] The case was opened under part 2 of article 228 of the Criminal Code for illegal drug possession.[1]