Rostov pharmacy staff face new criminal-organization case

Police in Russia’s Rostov region opened a new criminal-organization case against employees of a local pharmacy chain over alleged illegal sales of potent substances, the regional Interior Ministry department reported on October 19.

Investigators allege that medicines were sold without prescriptions, both wholesale and individually, with retail prices raised almost tenfold. Police said wholesale shipments went to the Leningrad and Astrakhan regions and to republics in the North Caucasus.

Governor Yury Slyusar, citing regional police chief Alexander Rechitsky, said the alleged operation had used pharmacies as cover for more than two years. Authorities seized more than 35 thousand units of potent substances from illegal circulation.

In September 2026, Interior Ministry spokesperson Irina Volk reported the detention of the chain’s director, a pharmacy manager and pharmacists. That case was opened under Part 3 of Article 234 of the Criminal Code, concerning illegal trafficking in potent substances. Police said the scheme operated in Rostov-on-Don, Azov, Aksay and Novocherkassk.

According to the account of the September case, six suspects were remanded in custody and three were placed under house arrest.