KIEV, July 2. /TASS/. Ukraine’s police intercepted a large batch of cocaine that was being delivered from Latin America through Ukraine to Western Europe, head of the National Police Sergei Knyazev said at a briefing on Tuesday.

"A number of detentions and more than a dozen searches were carried out, and 400 kg of cocaine, which has more than 90% concentration, according to the findings, were confiscated. This substance costs about $60 million in total," Knyazev reported.

The first suspects were detained on June 19, he said, with 270 kg of drugs on hand; the remaining 130 kg were confiscated on July 1. "Nine people were detained on drug trade suspicion, among them citizens of the Netherlands and the UK," the Ukrainian National Police head said.

They were prosecuted under Part 3 Section 307 (drug sale) and Part 3 Section 305 (drug smuggling) of the Criminal Code.

In April, police reported the interception of a large drug ring with a monthly turnover of 10 million hryvnias. Thirty-two people from various Ukrainian regions were detained then.

About a thousand police officers were deployed to shut down the drug cartel. They carried out almost 170 searches in the suspects' homes, drug laboratories, greenhouses where cannabis was grown, and places where the goods were stored. A total of 1.8 tonnes of precursors, almost 1,000 ecstasy pills, 57 kg of marijuana, 41 kg of amphetamine, 3.2 kg of methadone, almost 100 g of cocaine, and cannabis plants were detected. The police officers also found arms, shells, one grenade and 3.5 million hryvnias.