Almost 1.7 kg of dangerous PVP: psychotropic substance smuggling uncovered at border with Romania. PHOTOS

At the Ukrainian-Romanian border, law enforcement officers prevented a large consignment of the highly dangerous psychotropic substance PVP from being smuggled into Ukraine.

The smugglers attempted to disguisethe contraband as ordinary car care products, reports Censor.NET.

A hiding place in a toolbox

The smuggling route for the prohibited substances was uncovered at the ‘Porubne–Siret’ border crossing. The driver of the lorry, which belonged to an international haulage company, was travelling to Ukraine and, whilst undergoing customs checks, insisted that he was not carrying anything illegal or restricted for transport.

However, during a thorough inspection of the vehicle, customs officers looked inside the toolbox. There they found containers which, according to the documents, were supposed to contain automotive chemicals:

part of the psychotropic substance was poured into a motor oil bottle;
the rest of the liquid drug was hidden in containers that had previously held coolant concentrate (antifreeze).

Test results and seizure

The suspicious liquids were sent for analysis. An initial rapid test detected the presence of synthetic cations, and a subsequent official examination confirmed that the canisters contained PVP. The total weight of the seized substance was almost 1.7 kg.

Under the procedural guidance of the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the lorry driver has been charged with the smuggling of psychotropic substances on a particularly large scale. The court has already imposed the most severe preventive measure on him — detention without bail.