Nationwide narcotics network: "Khimprom" kept Ukraine under control

22 April 2026 the National Police of Ukraine reported the exposure of a large criminal infrastructure “Khimprom” that operated across the country. Within dozens of criminal proceedings law enforcement carried out thousands of operational actions and recently organized two large special operations. Suspicions have already been announced to members of the group, including its leader.

The organizer turned out to be a 36-year-old citizen of the Russian Federation, known by the alias “Mexican“. Since 2019 he has been internationally wanted, but, hiding abroad, continued to coordinate the network’s activities in Ukraine. The group had a clear structure: some members manufactured drugs, others handled finances, and others carried out information pressure and the discrediting of opponents. More than 30 instances of violent crimes were recorded.

A separate direction of activity was the project “U420” — the manufacture and sale of products containing synthetic cannabinoids. Exploiting loopholes in legislation, the suspects arranged the import of such substances and created a distribution network across the country. If in November 2025 there were 13 points of sale, by April 2026 there were 105. The main product became ready-to-use joints.

At the same time the perpetrators engaged in financial schemes: they used controlled FOPs to launder funds. Currently 145 such entities have been identified, through which million-hryvnia turnovers passed. In just two days an account of one of them received 56 million hryvnias. Cryptocurrencies were also used to conceal profits.

During the large-scale operation law enforcement conducted 281 searches in Kyiv and in another 10 regions. More than 54 thousand liters of product were seized, over 12 thousand joints, thousands of pills and kilograms of mixtures, as well as cash amounting to more than 7 million hryvnias. The total value of the seized items exceeds 75 million hryvnias. 416 accounts were frozen and cryptocurrencies worth nearly 1 million USDT were blocked.

Separately, on 17 April 2026 another special operation was conducted — over 70 searches, 15 vehicles, money, weapons and ammunition were seized. Two members of the group’s leadership were detained.

So far 23 participants have been notified of suspicion, some have already been convicted. The investigation continues, law enforcement is identifying all those involved in the activities “Khimprom”.