Four gang members were convicted in the Khmelnytskyi region for smuggling amber to Turkey

The Khmelnytskyi City and District Court approved plea agreements involving four members of an organized criminal group who set up a channel for the illegal export of amber to Turkey. 

The investigation proved that from January through June 2023, the defendants purchased amber in the Rivne region, packaged it at a former café in Khmelnytskyi, and handed it over to “blind” couriers for smuggling. In total, 14 incidents were documented, during which more than 157 kg of amber products and 46 units of raw material, worth nearly 446,000 UAH, were smuggled abroad.

The court found all defendants guilty under Part 3 of Article 28 and Parts 1 and 2 of Article 240-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The organizer was sentenced to 5 years in prison, and the three accomplices were each sentenced to 4 years (all were granted probation). The convicted individuals voluntarily transferred 800,000 UAH to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the seized amber was confiscated as state revenue.

Source: Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Law enforcement officials notified four participants in a scheme to illegally export over 4.7 metric tons of Ukrainian amber that they were under suspicion. The stones were smuggled abroad under the guise of amber from Lithuania.

The deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Rivne region received over 22,000 U.S. dollars from a businessman through the same intermediary in exchange for ensuring unimpeded amber mining.