'Burshtyn' operation underway: Sarny prosecutor, two persons behind illegal mining detained in Rivne region, - Avakov. PHOTOS

On Sept. 12, law enforcers detained new suspects during the 'Burshtyn' ("Amber") special operation aimed at combating the illegal production of amber in the west of Ukraine.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.

According to him, the Burshtyn special operation is underway in the Rivne region, with a Sarny prosecutor and two persons behind the illegal extraction of amber having been apprehended.

"Today, Sept. 12, investigators of the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, operatives of the National Police Economic Protection Department, the Security Service (SBU) and KORD special task unit have detained another prosecutor and two organizers of the illegal amber mining," Avakov wrote.

"KORD at work," Avakov wrote.

He recalled that in July 2016, law enforcers conducted a special operation to detain the leaders of the amber mafia, including the first deputy prosecutor of the Rivne region, current and former police officers, SBU employees as well as representatives of the criminal world.

According to Avakov, these detentions resulted from hard work by investigators from the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, National Police and SBU operatives who gathered enough evidence to support the involvement of the detainees in already solved and new criminal offences.

Searches are underway, the minister wrote.

Earlier, the issue of illegal amber extraction in the territory of the Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Volyn regions was made public. Thousands of locals and out-of-towners started mining amber illegally and indiscriminately, thus savagely destroying local ecosystems.

This year's scale of illegal extraction was so large that the authorities were forced to deploy the National Guard of Ukraine detachments in these regions.

The law enforcement agencies have been increasingly reporting about arrests of large-volume amber dealers.

According to experts, this problem can be resolved not only by raids against the illegal miners, but also by a legislative initiative. The Volyn Regional Council authorized a company to develop amber for the first time in May 2015.

July 4, law enforcers conducted a large-scale operation called "Burshtyn" in the Rivne region, with participation of more than 400 field investigators. Rivne regional prosecutor deputy head Andrii Borovyk has been detained.

The National Police also reported that an amber mafia boss was detained in Kyiv. Prosecutor General Yurii Lutsenko dismissed Rivne regional prosecutor Anatolii Kovalchuk July 7.