The issue of distinguishing between the ongoing illegal sale of narcotic drugs and a set of crimes

Background. The relevance of the problem under study lies in the fact that the distinction between the ongoing illegal sale of narcotic drugs and a set of crimes is an es-sential aspect in the objective qualification of the actions of the guilty party under Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, the legal position of law en-forcement and judicial bodies is subject to certain changes caused by the transformation of the very mechanism of committing the illegal sale of narcotic drugs and, as a consequence, the methods of its detection and suppression. Errors in qualification can lead to the imposi-tion of an unfair punishment, so it is important to ensure a comprehensive and objective investigation of all the circumstances of the crime committed, including establishing the role of each accomplice, the objective side of the crime performed by him and the direction of the criminal intent. Materials and methods. The methodological basis includes compara-tive legal and sociological research methods. Judicial practice on illegal drug sales is very voluminous and diverse, in this regard, decisions of the courts of first, appellate and cassa-tion instances were used as examples, not only in recent years, but also a comparative legal analysis of judicial practice over the past two to three decades is given. Results. In the course of the study, the issue of distinguishing between the ongoing illegal sale of drugs and a set of crimes was comprehensively considered. Conclusions. The study shows that at present, the key criterion for distinguishing between the ongoing sale of drugs and a set of crimes is the establishment of the unity of criminal intent, covering all episodes of illegal sale. When it is revealed that a guilty person has set up hiding places for drugs, the position of judicial and law enforcement agencies comes down to the need to qualify each episode of illegal sale of drugs as an independent crime in the event that the guilty person each time develops a new criminal intent to illegally sell drugs to an unidentified purchaser.