Drug Trafficking in Ukraine

Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was a hotspot for drug shipments...is it still?

Where there is war, there are drugs.

So as soon as war broke out in Ukraine, I began to wonder if and how drugs might play some role in the conflict.

Today I will share some notes on drug trafficking in Ukraine, which, as it turns out, has been extremely prevalent throughout the country in recent years. And, as we will see, such rampant trafficking is made possible by the corruption of government officials. Not only Ukraine, but the entire surrounding region is steeped in corruption.

Out: Communism, In: Drugs

Before 1991, Ukraine was a socialist republic under Soviet control. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, drug consumption and trafficking in Ukraine both picked up sharply. The dissolution of Ukraine’s Soviet government was itself a vital catalyst in this increase. Something similar happened in China in the same period, as China, like Russia, drifted towards capitalism and away from its communist roots.

Increased exposure to Western capitalist societies like the US plus the reduction in power of state institutions converged to produce a surge in organized crime. And illegal drugs were, of course, at the heart of this activity.

According to a report from the Department of Justice, a considerable number of Ukrainian chemists who had been employed by state-owned enterprises lost their jobs in this period. In need of income, many of them resorted to producing illegal drugs. Thus, in the mid-1990s, dozens of illegal drug labs sprang up across the country.

Ukraine also became a hub for international drug shipments. By the end of the decade, a steady flow of heroin from Afghanistan was going through Ukraine on its way to western Europe, Russia, etc.