Ukrainian man sentenced to life in Bali for drug lab operation; extradition followed months on run

A Ukrainian man was sentenced to life in prison in Bali after being convicted of producing illegal drugs in a lab in a luxury villa, ending a seven-month fugitive run that led to his arrest at Bangkok’s international airport as he tried to flee toward Dubai. Roman Nazarenko, 40, was extradited from Thailand to Indonesia to stand trial, following his listing by Interpol and a May 2024 police raid that uncovered a hydroponic drug lab in central Bali.

Nazarenko’s conviction comes after a trial that prosecutors said established he played a central role in coordinating a drug operation that produced hydroponic marijuana and mephedrone, a precursor used to manufacture ecstasy. The court, Denpasar District Court, handed down the life sentence on Thursday, with presiding Judge Eni Martiningrum stating that the crime was severe and that the defendant had no basis for forgiveness or justification. The judge added that the defendant’s actions could harm the mental state of Bali’s young people. Nazarenko sat silently as the verdict was announced.

The prosecution depicted Nazarenko as a key architect of the ring, coordinating the group’s activities, providing equipment, bringing in marijuana seeds from abroad, and overseeing the drug-lab operations. He, however, told the court that he had been tricked into joining the scheme by Oleg Tkachuck, the alleged overall mastermind who remains at large. Nazarenko argued that he did not know how the lab functioned beyond his role in supplying equipment, and that he regretted his involvement. Prosecutors countered that Nazarenko recruited others for the operation and helped run the lab’s day-to-day work.

In the same Bali case, two Ukrainian brothers, Mykyta Volovod and Ivan Volovod, and a Russian man, Konstantin Krutz, previously received 20-year prison terms in January for their roles in the operation. The Volovods admitted during their trial that Tkachuk had paid them about $30,000 in September 2023 to install equipment at the villa to produce hydroponic marijuana and mephedrone, and that additional payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars were made for quantities of dried marijuana and mephedrone. Prosecutors said the payments were conducted via Telegram and cryptocurrency, reflecting a growing reliance on digital channels in illicit drug networks.

Nazarenko’s defense and prosecutors painted a stark contrast in the courtroom. While Nazarenko acknowledged remorse, he insisted he was deceived by Tkachuk into acquiring the needed equipment and seeds, and that he did not understand the full scope of the operation. Prosecutors described him as a recruiter and coordinator whose actions helped to sustain the network’s production and distribution. The full extent of Nazarenko’s involvement remained at issue during the trial, but the court ultimately concluded that his culpability warranted the most severe penalty under Indonesian drug laws.

Bali has long attracted visitors from Russia and Ukraine, but the island’s crime landscape has shifted since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drawing thousands of travelers seeking refuge or a distraction from war. Indonesian officials say that Russians and Ukrainians have sometimes become partners in crime on Bali, a phenomenon marked by cross-border collaboration in illicit trafficking. Marthinus Hukom, head of Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency, described the occurrence as “a very unique phenomenon,” noting that two countries at war had citizens who were cooperating in drug trafficking on Bali.

Government data indicate that Russian visitors to Bali rose from 57,860 in 2022 to 180,215 by the end of 2024, underscoring the rapid growth of Russian tourism on the island. In 2023, Bali authorities reported 28 Russian citizens accused of crimes, a dramatic increase over 2022 that reflected a broader uptick in criminal cases tied to foreign visitors, including kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking as well as cultural offenses. The patterns have prompted caution from authorities about the scale and reach of foreign-linked crime on the tourist hub.

Nazarenko’s case underscores how Bali’s drug enforcement apparatus is pursuing high-profile suspects regardless of nationality, and how authorities are tracking a network that spans multiple countries. While his sentence closes a chapter on one subset of the ring, Indonesian officials say the broader case remains under investigation, with law enforcement agencies continuing to pursue leads and coordinate with international partners to dismantle criminal networks that exploit Bali’s appeal to tourists from around the world.