The State Bureau of Investigation conducted a special operation and stopped the activities of a persistent criminal group that organized a channel for supplying narcotics to “Zhytomyr Penitentiary No. 8.” The SBI reported this.
According to the investigation, the illegal scheme operated for several months and included a clear division of roles. The organizer was a convicted murderer who coordinated the actions of his accomplices from within the institution. The group included a cellmate, an acquaintance on the loose, and an employee of the institution who ensured access to drugs on the territory of the SIZO.
Investigators determined that a civilian accomplice purchased drugs and delivered them through the mailbox of a pre-trial detention center employee. The employee hid the illegal substances in his own garage and then smuggled them into the facility. Inside the pre-trial detention center, the convicted organizer and his cellmate sold the drugs to other inmates.
The group's activities included cannabis, methadone, and prescription drugs that enhanced the effects of the main drugs. According to preliminary data, the group had been operating since March 2025, regularly receiving profits that the members shared among themselves.
An employee of the institution was detained during another attempt to smuggle prohibited substances. A civilian participant who ensured the purchase of drugs was also detained. During searches, various types of narcotics were seized from members of the group and some prisoners.
Four participants were informed of the suspicion. They are charged with illegal sale and circulation of drugs in places of imprisonment, as well as distribution of potent drugs committed by a group of persons. The articles provide for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office is responsible for the procedural management of the case. In the near future, the court will choose preventive measures for the suspects.
