Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has arrested 97 individuals involved in organised crime across Tbilisi and the regions over the past 48 hours, among them 81 people implicated in drug distribution and narcotics-related criminal schemes.

Interior Minister Geka Geladze confirmed at a briefing that those detained include both Georgian and foreign nationals.

“As you are aware, the modern Georgian state, and every one of its law enforcement agencies, has declared an uncompromising war on organised, corrupt, drug-related, and all other forms of crime that might in any way undermine Georgian statehood, cause harm to Georgian society, or create problems for future generations. Today, I wish to inform the public of yet another large-scale and highly successful police operation, and to express my deepest gratitude to every officer who participated.

In the past 48 hours alone, we have detained 97 individuals involved in organised crime across Tbilisi and the regions, including 81 people engaged in drug distribution and narcotics criminal schemes. We have seized exceptionally large quantities of various narcotic substances. Those detained include both Georgian and foreign nationals,” said Minister Geladze.

The minister went on to explain that those arrested for drug distribution had been supplying narcotics to members of the public through a variety of methods and channels.

“These included internet applications, hand-to-hand exchanges, and the concealment of drugs at designated locations. To identify those involved in drug distribution, our officers conducted controlled purchases on multiple occasions, with covert audio and video recording of those transactions, providing direct evidence of the criminal conduct of those detained. Searches of the persons, vehicles, and residences of the drug offenders, as well as items recovered from locations indicated by them during investigative experiments, yielded exceptionally large quantities of various narcotic substances prepared for sale, including heroin, cocaine, alpha-PVP, Suboxone, buprenorphine, and others.

Also seized were materials used for the packaging and cultivation of narcotics, as well as cash believed to represent the proceeds of drug sales. Among those arrested is a Latvian national, detained at Tbilisi International Airport based on operational intelligence. He had been attempting to bring into Georgia an exceptionally large quantity of cocaine, in excess of half a kilogram,” the Interior Minister stated.

The minister further disclosed that a clandestine narcotics laboratory had been uncovered in a residential flat in Tbilisi.

“Acting on operational intelligence, officers discovered a makeshift drugs laboratory in a residential flat in Tbilisi, where narcotic substances were being produced by hand. Two Iranian nationals have been arrested, and an exceptionally large quantity of narcotics has been seized, nearly half a kilogram of methamphetamine. Simultaneously, as part of a parallel police operation, a further 16 individuals have been detained. Searches of their persons, residential properties, outbuildings, and vehicles yielded dozens of firearms, automatic weapons, and hand grenades. The investigation is being conducted under Articles 236, 260, 260-ter, 260-quater, 262, and 265-bis of the Criminal Code, which carry sentences of up to twenty years or life imprisonment.

Once again, I issue a categorical warning to all would-be criminals: do not find yourselves in our sights, because no argument will spare an offender from punishment. And to the public, on behalf of the Georgian authorities and every law enforcement officer, I give this pledge: our country will stand among the most successful in the world in the fight against crime,” declared Minister Geladze.