Kyiv’s Pechersky District Court has approved a preventive measure in the form of detention with the alternative of posting Hr 10 million bail for a resident of Kyiv accused of smuggling into Ukraine from Panama more than five kilograms of cocaine, the press service of the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office has said.
“At the request of the prosecutor’s office, a 38-year-old Kyiv resident suspected of smuggling five kilograms of cocaine to Ukraine from Panama is remanded to pretrial custody in lieu of posting Hr 10 million bail,” the prosecutor’s office said, adding the suspect was convicted in the United States for hacking crimes, the theft of about $15 million and sentenced to an 8-year jail term. He is being charged pursuant to Part 3 of Article 305 of Ukraine Criminal Code (narcotics smuggling).
As earlier reported, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service seized the cocaine on May 4.
“Law enforcement agents determined that the Kyiv native arranged the delivery via an acquaintance in Central America. The cocaine arrived in Ukraine through foreign freight carriers. Using his connections with the criminal world, the dealer sold the narcotics in various regions of Ukraine with the help of couriers,” the SBU said.
SBU agents detained the suspect at Kyiv’s customs office in Boryspil, Kyiv region, as he received the cocaine, which was hidden in roller skate boxes.
