Bali court sentences Ukrainian to life for making drugs
A Ukrainian man, who was arrested in Thailand and returned to Indonesia seven months later, was convicted of producing illegal drugs on the Indonesian tourism island and was sentenced to prison.
The 40 -year -old novel Nazarenko was suspected after finding a villa in Bali in May 2024 and found a laboratory in the basement floor to raise marijuana and produce the pioneer of Synthetic Pharmaceutical Ecstasy.
He was arrested at Bangkok’s international airport in December while trying to escape to Dubai as a fugitive listed by Interpol.
Nazarenko said that he was deceived to join the drug ring during the hearing, but he was the brain of prosecutors, and quietly decided on Thursday as a panel of three judges in the Denpasar Regional Court.
“There is no reason to forgive or justify the accused, he deserves to be proportional to his actions.” He said.
“The crime may harm the mental state of the young generation.”
A Russian man, which is defined by the prosecutors as Oleg Tkachuck, the general brain of the drug ring, continues.
In January, the same court sentenced two Ukrainian brother Mykyta Volovod and Ivan Volovod and a Russian man Constantine Krutz each for 20 years in prison.
They were arrested during the raid on the villa.
The Volovod brothers were accused of being a drug producer and Krutz was accused of selling drugs.
During their hearings, the Volovod brothers admitted that TKACHuck paid $ 30,000 (A45.200 $) to build a villa to produce hydroponic cannabis and mephedron used to make Ecstasy pills in September 2023.
Tkachuck also paid $ 3000 for 10 kg dried cannabis and $ 10,000 for 1 kg Mephedron, which they sold to users through couriers and driving greeting services.
All transactions were made through Telegram messaging application and payment was made using the crypto currency.
Prosecutors, during the hearing Nazarenko’nun hired the others for Tkachuck, equipment provides, brought cannabis seeds from abroad and controls the operations of the drug laboratory, he said.
Nazarenko expressed his regret during the hearing and argued that TKACHuck was deceived to provide the necessary equipment and had no idea how the laboratory works.
Bali has been popular among Russian and Ukrainian tourists for a long time, but Russia has become a magnet for thousands of people from these two countries who wanted to escape the horror of war in 2022, since it was full -scale Ukraine invasion.
Visitors from Russia have increased.
Marthinus Hukom, President of the National Narcotics Agency of Indonesian Narcotics, collaborated with the Russians and Ukrainians in Indonesia’s most famous holiday island.
“This is a very unique phenomenon,” Hukom said.
He continued: “The two countries in the war, but here in Bali, citizens, illegal drug trafficking criminal partners.”
Government data show that the number of Russian tourists visiting Bali in 2022 is 57,860.
Figure has increased significantly every year and reached 180.215 at the end of 2024.
Bali Police Chief Daniel Adityajaya, in 2023, the number of Russian citizens accused of committing a crime in Bali, kidnapping, extortion, drug smuggling and Balinese culture, including crimes such as crimes such as about five times increased by about five times, he said.
