Operation “Carthage”: NABU and SAPO exposed a criminal group that controlled 52 fraudulent call centers and dealt in drugs

As part of Operation “Carthage”, NABU and SAPO exposed a new criminal organization that was involved in fraudulent call centers, drug distribution, kidnapping and beating people, as well as other crimes.

This was reported by NABU and SAPO.

According to the investigation, it all started with the Russian drug cartel "Khimprom". After the start of the full-scale invasion, the cartel expanded its influence in Ukraine and abroad.

Its leader, a Russian citizen known by the nickname "Mexican", recruited a man nicknamed "Criminal" to cooperate. He was supposed to protect the criminal business from law enforcement officers thanks to his connections.

"Criminal" also had two dirty work executors under the pseudonyms "Pasha" and "Boxer". In addition, the investigation established that "Criminal" maintained contacts with high-ranking officials of SBU and the National Police.

In particular, according to the investigation, the organization included two police officers — "Price" and "Consultant", as well as a high-ranking SBU official nicknamed "Akim".

One of the organizationʼs areas of activity was a network of fraudulent call centers. Investigators believe that by the fall of 2025, "The Mexican" was already controlling such offices that were defrauding citizens of Ukraine and other countries.

According to NABU and SAPO, the organizationʼs members coordinated the work of at least 52 call centers, where approximately 2 700 people worked. To ensure that the offices could operate smoothly, their owners paid law enforcement officers $7 000 per month from each call center.

The money was transferred to representatives of SBU, the National Police, and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office in cryptocurrency. In return, law enforcement officers were not to conduct searches or interfere with the work of the offices. The addresses of call centers that paid bribes were centrally entered into a joint register.

According to the scheme, from at least January to July 2026, police officer Price received money for covering up specific call centers. When law enforcement officers did conduct searches and seize equipment, the organizationʼs members tried to return the property through the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv. To do this, according to the investigation, they were ready to pay judges.

At the end of July 2026, after the presidentʼs instruction to intensify the fight against call centers, senior officials of the National Police and SBU warned the organizationʼs members about the need to temporarily suspend the work of offices and strengthen surveillance.

Another area of activity of the organization was the business of the “U420” chain of stores. According to the investigation, "Mexican" owned these stores, and "Criminal" had a share in the business and received a percentage of the turnover every month.

The stores sold a solution containing a substance that investigators said contained a banned cannabinoid. To circumvent the law, it was mixed with other substances in a formula that was not formally banned. The organization also discussed bribing ministers and other influential officials to prevent the formula from being banned.

Operation Carthage

On September 4, NABU and SAPO reported on the "Carthage" operation. According to the investigation, its participants "covered" fraudulent call centers for money. The participants invested the funds received from the operation in real estate and other property worth more than 20 million hryvnias, and they could have kept another 10 million hryvnias in the accounts of their relatives.

In the records published by NABU, the leader of the criminal group is called "Chancellor" — the case materials indicate that this is Serhiy Kropyva. He is also suspected of laundering money in the amount of UAH 89.9 million.

In addition, the investigatorsʼ records include "The Boss" — the former head of the State Tax Service. From December 2024 to June 2025, Ruslan Kravchenko was the head of the State Tax Service. Two of the defendants in the case have already been sent to custody for two months — Kropyva with a bail of UAH 120 million, and his accomplice and cohabitant Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko — with a bail of UAH 20 million.

According to the investigation, the woman could have been involved in transferring funds through an individual entrepreneur for legalization.

On September 15 of this year, Zelensky fired Kravchenko after the then Prosecutor General signed a complaint of suspicion against the head of NABU Serhiy Kryvonos and a person close to the head of SAPO Oleksandr Klymenko.

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