On the frontline of security: how the employees of the metropolitan drug control confront modern threats

Employees of the units for drug control and combating human trafficking celebrate their professional holiday on October 9. About how the fight against the most hidden types of crime is built, the correspondent of the Minsk-Novosti agency was told by the head of the ONIPTL of the Soviet Internal Affairs Department of Minsk Yuri Drizovsky.

The photo is illustrative in nature

According to the officer, the drug business has almost completely moved to the Internet. Anonymous messengers and darknets have become the main platforms for recruiting couriers and selling prohibited substances. The main problem of our time is the ease with which young people are involved in criminal schemes:

- On the Internet there are ads about “easy earnings” and allegedly legality. Young people are encouraged to take large quantities of drugs, pack them in small doses and lay them in hiding. Many people mistakenly believe they will remain anonymous, but this is an illusion. It is our job to break this illusion and bring those responsible to justice.

The officer stressed that the “career” of the mortgager is short-lived: from the beginning of criminal activity to detention usually takes from a few days to a couple of weeks. The result of such “part-time work” is not the promised profit, but a harsh sentence and long prison terms.

The effectiveness of the unit is confirmed by examples from practice. So, employees of the capital’s drug control with the power support of riot police detained a 31-year-old resident of the capital, who worked as a mortgagee at a drug market. More than 850g of the psychotropic substance amphetamine was found and seized in his private home and car. The man had previously been prosecuted for a similar crime, and his wife did not know about his “part-time job”. Thanks to the professionalism of the operatives, thousands of doses did not reach consumers.

- We're working ahead. We analyze routes, monitor suspicious activity and use modern technical means. Each consignment seized is someone’s life saved, Drizovsky said.

In addition to combating the drug threat, the competence of ONIPTL includes countering human trafficking and suppressing illegal business of providing intimate services. In this area, operatives of the Soviet Interior Ministry detained a 25-year-old Minsk resident who organized an illegal business. The defendant got acquainted with the girls in the messenger, offered them “part-time jobs”, created pages with their photos on dating sites and conducted correspondence on their behalf, taking half of the payment for organizing meetings. Three women between the ages of 21 and 40 were found involved in prostitution.

Despite the successes in operational work, ONIPTL employees are convinced that it is impossible to defeat drug crime with arrests alone. Prevention is important. Schools, colleges and universities in the Soviet district regularly hold meetings where officers tell the truth about the consequences of drug use.

- We encourage parents to be more attentive to their children. If you notice a child new expensive things, inexplicable night walks or strange behavior – do not close your eyes to it, – said Drizovsky.

On their professional holiday, ONIPTL employees continue to serve. Their work is invisible to most, but it is thanks to their professionalism and integrity that the city becomes safer.