"Serve and protect": captain suspected of drug trafficking and accepting payment for passage through checkpoints

Who will investigate the law enforcement officers themselves? A captain is suspected of drug trafficking and influence peddling

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30 Jul 2026

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The Central District Court of the city of Mykolaiv imposed a preventive measure on a police officer with the special rank of “captain”. The law enforcement officer is suspected of trafficking a particularly dangerous psychotropic substance and abuse of influence.

The press service of the Central District Court of the city of Mykolaiv reported this on 30 July 2026.

According to the motion materials, in July 2026 a serviceman who had deserted the military and was wanted needed to travel from Kherson to Odesa. He could not make such a trip on his own because of temporary checkpoints along the route.

Through an acquaintance, the serviceman met the suspected police officer. According to the court, the captain offered to escort the man to Odesa without hindrance for 40,000 hryvnias.

The next day the serviceman transferred the first part of the illicit payment to the police officer — 3,000 hryvnias.

During the trip from Kherson to Odesa, the captain, as stated in the motion materials, showed his service ID at checkpoints and gave the corresponding service passwords. Because of this, a thorough document check of the people in the car allegedly was not carried out.

Before the last checkpoint the serviceman handed the police officer the remainder of the agreed sum — 37,000 hryvnias. After receiving the money the captain was detained.

The investigation also accuses the police officer of another episode. According to law enforcement, in June 2026 he sold a resident of Kherson the particularly dangerous psychotropic substance PVP.

This episode was qualified under Part 2 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — illegal sale of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances committed under aggravating circumstances. The actions related to receiving 40,000 hryvnias were qualified under Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — abuse of influence.

At the court hearing the suspect and his defenders objected to granting the investigators’ motion. They asked the court to impose house arrest on the police captain.

Investigative judge Volodymyr Liashchenko decided to remand the suspect in custody. At the same time the court set the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 499,200 hryvnias.

The policeman currently has the status of a suspect. His guilt can only be established by a guilty verdict of a court that has entered into legal force.