Ukrainian law enforcers on Thursday reported seizing in Odesa 355 kg of psychotropic substance Captagon, known as the "jihadi drug." The price of the seized lot on the black market is estimated at 15 million dollars.
The State Border Service said the criminal group planned to traffic the drug to Kuwait by plane from the Kyiv airport Boryspil by stashing it in packages with inflatable boats.
The criminal group has been investigated for about a year. Law enforcers say that the members of this group have been involved in the smuggling of a similar psychotropic substance through Ukraine to Kuwait last year.
Last August, Kuwait's anti-narcotic authority reported seizing 1.5 million captagon pills that were delivered from Ukraine in two containers of charcoal.
During the special operation on the night of 6 September, law enforcers stopped a minibus that was heading for Kiev with 250 kg of Captagon pills.
"This psychoactive substance is extremely dangerous. World media have repeatedly written that these "horror pills" are responsible for the frenzy of ISIS thugs. Captagon is a powerful amphetamine that kills compassion, neutralizes pain and gives physical endurance. At the same time, the drug causes strong addiction and have serious side effects in the human body," the SBS report said.
In April, law enforcement officers have already seized Captagon that has been smuggled to the Odessa seaport in a container with a shoe lot from Syria.
The organizers of this channel were citizens of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, the natives of one of the Arab countries. Having organized a transit channel from Syria through Ukraine, they received huge incomes.
Police searches at the place of residence of the detained members of the criminal group revealed the packaging equipment that has been used to dispatch Captagon last year and another 105 kg of the drug.
The special operation was conducted by the State Border Service, the Security Service and the Prosecutor's Office.