The police of Ternopil Oblast exposed a criminal group that forcibly detained people with addictions in “rehabilitation centers”
The police of Ternopil Region exposed a criminal group that kidnapped and forcibly detained people with alcohol and drug addictions in so-called “rehabilitation centers”.
Relatives of the patients paid the perpetrators from 8 to 20 thousand hryvnias for “treatment” every month, the National Police of the Ternopil region reports.
According to the investigation, illegal rehabilitation centers operated in three regions, in particular in Ternopil region.
The attackers told the patients’ relatives that their centers employ highly qualified doctors who guarantee 100% freedom from addiction.
Patients were kept in rooms with bars on the windows and closed doors |
People who did not agree to go to the rehabilitation center were taken away by force.
Patients were kept in rooms with bars on the windows and closed doors. Five people lived in one room. Employees of the institution only let people out under supervision, and it was also forbidden to use the telephone.
According to the police, relatives paid from 8 to 20 thousand hryvnias every month for treatment and rehabilitation, which was not provided to people.
Law enforcement officers began monitoring the activities of the criminal group as early as 2022. The organizer of the group is a resident of Vinnytsia region and four accomplices, who previously also abused alcohol and drugs. They have already been detained.
Law enforcement officers simultaneously conducted 10 searches in three regions of Ukraine, during which they discovered and seized cars, advertising stickers, draft accounting and records with the client base.
All members of the group were charged with suspicion in accordance with Part 3 of Article 146 (illegal deprivation of liberty or abduction of a person committed by an organized group, or those that caused grave consequences) of the Criminal Code, which provides for imprisonment for a term of five to ten years.
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