Law enforcement agencies stopped the activities of an organized group that had established an interregional illegal market for the sale of firearms and ammunition. The operation was carried out as part of a pre-trial investigation under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
“Within the framework of a pre-trial investigation, which is being carried out under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, law enforcement officers exposed a group of individuals who organized the illegal sale of firearms, including military-purpose and converted firearms, as well as ammunition. As a result of the procedural actions carried out in the territory of Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, 19 authorized searches were conducted, as well as four stages of controlled operational purchases were previously carried out,” the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.
During the investigative actions, 75 firearms, almost 13 thousand cartridges, 38 grenades, 21 initiation devices, two grenade launchers, as well as cash in the amount of over 450 thousand hryvnias and 11 thousand US dollars were seized from illegal circulation.
The investigation established that the group members not only sold weapons, but also processed them themselves in underground workshops. Such illegal “workshops” were set up directly near the places of residence of the suspects and were used to complete and prepare weapons for further sale. Machine guns, carbines, rifles, ammunition, special equipment, draft records, bank cards, mobile phones and vehicles were seized from the workshops.
To form an evidence base, law enforcement officers conducted four stages of controlled operational purchases, during which they documented the sale of machine guns, submachine guns and a pistol.
Currently, five suspects have been detained. Three persons have been notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and three more — under Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. A petition has been filed with the court to impose preventive measures in the form of detention.
