Drug market in Ukraine. How it is arranged and who makes money from it

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As you can see, everything is grown-up, no worse than in a solid retail store. Producers can be very different: someone "cooks mef" — produces mephedrone or other synthetic drugs in an underground laboratory, or makes acetylated opium from poppy in a country cottage. Someone grows narcotic hemp in an underground greenhouse or on an open plantation somewhere in a sparsely populated place; then collects and processes the crop. Next, any drug manufacturer transfers its product to wholesalers. To understand the scope: according to the SBU , in only one of the laboratories covered by law enforcement this year, goods worth millions of dollars were found, the laboratory itself brought the owners 70 million hryvnias of profit per month.

In turn, smugglers bring drugs from abroad that are not available in Ukraine by definition (cocaine) or are expensive and difficult to produce (ecstasy). Other smugglers supply neighboring countries (most often Moldova, Poland and Belarus) with drugs made in Ukraine or transiting through it. As employees of the special services told "DS", a number of laboratories that work purposefully for the Ukrainian market operate in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation, in the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, as well as in Transnistria. But, interestingly, reverse channels were also found: Ukrainian laboratories worked for consumers in ORDLO.

Wholesale suppliers are the most mysterious (due to their small number) and closed cohort in the drug market. They receive goods from manufacturers and smugglers, after which they offer them to retailers. As a rule, deals are concluded in the darknet ("dark Internet") on specialized sites where verified market participants are admitted. The settlement takes place in cryptocurrencies. These arrangements are almost completely hidden from view.

Then the wholesale courier enters the business. Hollywood movies often show how such deals go: two gangs armed to the teeth meet in a semi-dark hangar, one with a suitcase of money, the other with a suitcase of drugs. But in real life everything is different. For example, a truck with various goods is going from Lviv to Kyiv. And somewhere in the depths — a couple of boxes with ten kilograms of drugs. Somewhere between Rivne and Slavuta, the driver pulls off the highway into the forest, finds a cozy place, and buries one box under the roots of a tree. Then it determines the exact coordinates of the place using GPS and sends them to the client. Further, already on the run, for example between Berdychiv and Pogrebyshche, a second box is buried in exactly the same way.

In which case the driver can say: "I don't know anything, I didn't load the body, it's my job to turn the steering wheel." And he will be right: knowing about the cargo is not his responsibility, but the forwarder's, and they are very rare on such flights (it is difficult to prove malicious intent - see below).

And the next day (or the next day, or another day), the buyer (retailer) arrives at the specified coordinates and digs up the box.

The function of retail stores is obvious: they package drugs in small containers, advertise, organize sales channels, hire couriers and hostages. The monthly turnover here can be very different: from millions of dollars in a rather large store to thousands — in the case of students who "bargain in a small way". The lowest level of drug trafficking ("soldiers") are couriers and pawnbrokers. Couriers pass doses from hand to hand (usually only to verified people), bailiffs make bookmarks with the drug in secluded places in different parts of the city, after which a photo and GPS coordinates of the place are sent to the buyer.

Stores work not only on their own, but are also placed in the darknet on special platforms - marketplaces. This is a separate type of business: the marketplace (there are not many of them, the most infamous is the Russian "Hydra") not only hosts drug stores, but also advertises them, helps make calculations, resolves conflicts, and organizes secure communication channels.

A separate type of business is guarantors. In such a specific business as the drug trade, there is always a high probability of deception: someone "dumped" someone, received money, but did not bring a "fool", or vice versa, or the quality is not the same, etc. The task of the guarantor is to receive money from the buyer, check the fulfillment of the order, and then transfer the money to the seller (minus his interest). Well, or act as an arbitrator in the conflict, if it comes to it.

The peculiarity of the Ukrainian drug market is that it is dominated by narcotic hemp (marijuana) and all kinds of products from it: 7 out of 10 purchases are marijuana ("weed", "cones", hashish, etc.).

According to Art. 106 (2) of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (ACOC), cultivation of hemp in the amount of up to 10 plants entails a fine and confiscation of these plants. According to Art. 44 of the same code, the illegal production, acquisition, storage, transportation and forwarding of drugs (without the purpose of sale) in small amounts is punishable by a fine of 25 to 50 of the tax-free minimum income of citizens. And in large volumes, this is already criminal responsibility, defined by Art. 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. According to this norm, larger fines or imprisonment for 6 months or restriction of liberty for up to 5 years are provided for the production or purchase without the intention to trade cannabis.

It is worth noting that marijuana is in lower demand in Kyiv, while expensive drugs are in greater demand. In cities with millions, the ratio is very similar. But in the province, the expensive "fool" finds its customers much less often. There, light drugs include pure marijuana, and hard drugs include poppy derivatives.

In 2018, one of the drug dealers published a capital marketing research "What Kyiv is sitting on". This anonymous, working in this market, knew that the number of reviews about narcotic substances on the websites of dealers is directly proportional to the volume of their sales. This is how, according to his data, the dynamics of the Kyiv market looked like three years ago.

Marijuana demand/Study "What Kyiv sits on"

Dynamics of the drug market/Study "What Kyiv is sitting on"

Since then, something has changed - sales of narcotic cannabis have increased dramatically. According to the Department for Combating Narcotic Crime of the National Police of Ukraine, the volume of cannabis seized from illegal circulation in 2020 exceeded the indicators of 2019 by almost 143%. In 2019, a total of 8.7 tons of narcotic and psychotropic drugs were seized. Of them, 2.2 tons of cannabis (25% of the total volume) and 443 grams of hashish (cannabis resin). In 2020, a total of 6.15 tons of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were seized. Of them, 5.34 tons of cannabis (86%) and 3 kg of hashish. It is believed that one ton is about a million doses, which is an annual increase of 142%. Indicators of hashish (cannabis resin) are even higher - from 443 grams in 2019 to 3 kg in 2020, an increase of 557%.

Here, of course, there is no complete correlation: these are statistics just for the removed product, and not for the entire sale. And it is logical to assume that those who trade in cannabis simply get caught more often, since there are less penalties and, accordingly, less reinsurance. But in general, the trend is obvious.

According to the estimates of the drug police, the annual turnover of the Ukrainian market of narcotic cannabis and its derivatives exceeds UAH 1.3 billion. At the same time, according to the careful assessment of drug market participants themselves, such drugs as cocaine, heroin, synthetic drugs (amphetamines), salts, alpha-PVP, ecstasy pills, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and others collectively exceed marijuana in terms of monetary turnover by 4-5 times ( here we're talking about total estimated sales)—simply because of the significantly higher cost. Simple calculations show that it is at least 5.2 billion hryvnias. Then, in total, the annual volume of the Ukrainian drug market is about UAH 6.5 billion.

It is incorrect to compare drugs by weight: a kilogram of hashish is equivalent in value to milligrams of pure LSD, and their psychedelic effect is fundamentally different, which means different groups of users. It is possible to compare only by the structure of consumption — and, accordingly, the income from trade in various types of "fools". The "DS" columnist spoke with law enforcement officers and participants in the drug market in order to create an approximate picture of drug consumption in Ukraine.

Five years ago, almost all trade was done through acquaintances (everyone knows that you can buy a "fool" from Vasa) and through the darknet (which required buyers to have some knowledge of Internet technologies). Now, as a showcase, there is an ordinary website on the Internet, and deals are made through the Telegram messenger.

True, in Telegram, drug dealers use a little more conspiracy than sellers of fake money or "left" credit cards - the work goes through bots and online operators.

The client makes an order through a bot (program-trading robot) or through a human operator who is on duty in the network, pays for the product, receives coordinates and a description of the bookmark with the drug. Or they can send a courier directly to him - if the client is verified. Sometimes drugs are sent by mail - this was popular 4-5 years ago, but not so much today.

Variety of choices/Photo by the author

Settlements take place either in cryptocurrencies (if the amounts are considerable), or by a simple transfer to a bank card (drug dealers use cards issued for other people ), or through electronic payment systems.

Narcotic crimes and their punishments are detailed in Section 13 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: "Criminal crimes in the sphere of trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors and other crimes against public health." There are 25 articles, and the deadlines for most of them are not childish at all.

Hallucinogenic mushrooms for sale/Photo by the author

However, the streets of Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine are full of advertisements of drug dealers. And not only with inscriptions with telegram addresses of stores applied from aerosol cans, but also with advertising postcards with high-quality, expensive printing.

Simple and cheap/Photo by the author

Ecologically clean plant products/Photo by the author

You can buy drugs at any time of the day/Photo by the author

That is, not only is a huge number of people involved in this business, but they are also not particularly afraid of criminal prosecution. Why? Several reasons came together here.

The first is that drug producers, smugglers and distributors too often operate under the cover of unscrupulous law enforcement officers. Headlines like "The SBU employee crushed the trade in psychotropic drugs via Telegram" are, unfortunately, not uncommon in the Ukrainian mass media. Deputies are also involved in such activities , and unfortunately, "narcotic" news appears most about the police .

The second reason is the peculiarities of Ukrainian legislation, more precisely, the Criminal Procedure Code, which regulates the investigation. Arresting drug dealers or drug producers is not as difficult as proving their guilt. Testimony is not accepted by the court, and investigators must not only "take it red-handed", but also prove that the suspects understood that they were dealing with drugs and deliberately wanted to make money from them. That is, it is necessary to prove not only the fact of actions, but also their evil intent.

And this, it turns out, is not easy at all. A "DS" source in the law enforcement agencies tells simply amazing stories:

- Covering a laboratory that produces methamphetamine. And the employees say: "Why did you come to us? We produce fertilizer for cacti!". And indeed, there are bags with the inscription "Fertilizer for cacti" lying right there. And the substance ready for packaging is methamphetamine. And it begins:

- No, this is fertilizer for cacti. You see, a page was found on the Internet: "Unique fertilizer for cacti: recipe." Here we are preparing...

It is even more difficult with couriers who make bookmarks with drugs for end users. A few years ago, the police detected them quite simply: a boy walks, stuck into his smartphone and looks around, looking for something - 90% that the hostage is looking for the specified point. And today the same boy is walking, his smartphone is buried and he is looking around, looking for something, and he has a delivery service backpack on his back. And what? Detain him?

Moreover, many drug couriers are specially employed in delivery services, the police complain. You slow him down, and he has a pizza in his backpack. He is at work, delivering a real order to a real person. And the fact that there is a bag of heroin in the pocket is for personal consumption (there is one dose), it is not prohibited by law. (And if more, the lawyers called "DS" a life hack for such a case: the courier writes a statement that he is beginning to develop a drug addiction and wants to undergo voluntary preventive treatment. After that, he spends two weeks in a drug addiction hospital, in court before "presents a certificate to that effect, and the court releases him from responsibility on the basis of Part 4 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.)

It cannot be said that no one is imprisoned for drug trafficking in Ukraine. They plant But, as the drug dealers themselves admit, the chances of avoiding punishment when caught are much higher than actually getting behind bars.

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