Briefing of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs - Aleksandre Darakhvelidze
The Ministry of Internal Affairs continues its relentless fight against the illegal circulation and distribution of drugs. As a result of the measures taken by law enforcement officers, a number of cases of drug trafficking have been identified and prevented in recent times.
We would like to inform you that the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted another large-scale police operation in Tbilisi and the regions, as a result of which especially large amount of narcotics were seized and 44 people were arrested on charges of selling, preparing for selling, attempting to sell, facilitating the sale of narcotics, as well as on charges of importing, purchasing and storing narcotics in particularly large quantities in Georgia.
Among the arrested are both Georgian and foreign citizens.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, based on a judge's ruling, conducted a number of undercover investigative actions. It was established that the arrested drug dealers were systematically selling narcotics to citizens using various methods and means.
Law enforcement officers, based on a judge's ruling, conducted controlled purchases of narcotics several times and secretly recorded the aforementioned purchases with audio and video.
During the searches of the detainees' cars, personal and residential homes, the police also seized a particularly large amount of various types of narcotics as evidence from the locations indicated by them.
As a result of the investigation, materials needed for packaging narcotics, adhesive tapes, and electric scales were seized. A firearm was seized from one of the detainees.
The investigation is underway under Articles 260, 260-Quarter, 19-260-Tercia and 260-Tercia of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for a sentence of up to 20 years or life imprisonment.
It is noteworthy that over the past two months, law enforcement officers have arrested and prosecuted 1,417 individuals on charges of drug crimes, a significant portion of whom are drug dealers.
