CONDUCTING CERTAIN COVERT INVESTIGATIVE (SEARCH) ACTIONS DURING THE INVESTIGATION OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY ORGANIZED CRIMINAL GROUPS USING UAVS

Abstract

The article examines the issue of conducting covert investigative (search) actions during the investigation of criminal offenses committed by organized criminal groups using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The rapid spread of drones as a tool for the logistical support of criminal activity (smuggling, delivery of prohibited items to penal institutions, counter-surveillance against law enforcement) necessitates the development of specialized tactical approaches to the application of covert investigative actions in this category of proceedings, which differ substantially from traditional algorithms for documenting crimes committed by organized groups.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to identify the legal, organizational, and tactical features of conducting certain covert investigative (search) actions during the investigation of criminal offenses related to the use of UAVs by organized criminal groups, as well as to substantiate directions for improving the practice of their application, taking into account the specifics of the drone as an object of surveillance, recording, and subsequent examination.

Materials and Methods. The research materials include the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, legislation in the field of operational and investigative activities, departmental regulatory legal acts, scholarly works of domestic and foreign researchers, as well as generalized materials from the practical activities of investigators and operational units of law enforcement agencies. The methodological framework of the study comprises the dialectical method of scientific cognition; formal-legal, systemic-structural, logical-normative, and comparative-legal methods; as well as methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization, and modeling, which made it possible to comprehensively examine the legal nature, procedural conditions, and tactical aspects of conducting covert investigative (search) actions in criminal proceedings of this category.

Results. As a result of the study, the specifics of applying such covert investigative (search) actions as surveillance of a person, object, or location, establishing the location of a radio-electronic device, audio and video surveillance of a place, obtaining information from the electronic information systems of a UAV, control over the commission of a crime, and covert obtaining of samples for comparative examination with respect to seized drones were analyzed. The main risks affecting the admissibility and relevance of evidence were identified, including the volatility of a drone's digital traces, the risk of remote data destruction, and the difficulties of identifying a drone operator within an organized group.

Discussion. A promising area for further scientific research is the in-depth study and adaptation of foreign experience in drone digital forensics, as well as the development of unified tactical algorithms for conducting covert investigative (search) actions concerning crimes committed using UAVs.