A scheme involving the extortion of 30,000–50,000 hryvnias was uncovered at the Khmelnytskyi Detention Center
At the Khmelnytskyi Pretrial Detention Center, inmates organized an internal criminal network in which they used threats and coercion to collect money from others for a so-called “thieves’ fund”—amounts reaching tens of thousands of hryvnias. At the same time, a scheme involving drugs, cell phones, and control over other inmates was operating within the facility, and this was managed through telephone “meetings,” according to .
Investigators say it all began with an organized conversation among several inmates, which effectively turned into a coordination center for influence within the detention center. They discussed not only “traditions” but also very practical matters—how to collect money, how to pressure those who refuse to pay, and how to smuggle prohibited items into cells.
According to the prosecutor’s office, one of the suspects had enough clout in the detention center to effectively run the operations, and it was he who set the “collection” scheme in motion. Inmates and even their relatives were forced to pay between 30,000 and 50,000 hryvnias, and refusal could result in threats of physical violence or psychological pressure via mobile phone.
At the same time, as the investigation established, a system for trafficking narcotics and psychotropic substances was set up within this same framework; these substances entered the facility through various channels. During searches of the cells, law enforcement officers seized phones, SIM cards, a Wi-Fi router, bank cards, cash, and records that may corroborate the scheme.
A separate incident involved an episode during a search when, according to investigators, one of the inmates threatened detention center staff with a homemade knife in an attempt to disrupt the investigative proceedings. The prosecutor’s office emphasizes that all five suspects have already been charged with organizing criminal influence, extortion, and other offenses related to illegal activities.
The investigation is ongoing; investigators are examining all communication channels and possible links between the suspects and the outside world, as well as the sources through which prohibited items entered the facility.
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