Law enforcers detain 80 individuals affiliated with “thieves’ world,” 14 other individuals, including a “thief-in-law,” charged in absentia

Officers of the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), in collaboration with the General Prosecutor’s Office, through a large-scale police raid conducted both in Tbilisi and the regions, detained 80 individuals affiliated with “thieves’ world.”

Director of the Central Criminal Police Department Davit Kiknadze announced during the briefing that 14 other individuals, some of them being in the penitentiary facilities, including a “thief-in-law” giving instructions from abroad, will be charged in absentia.

Law enforcers, through covertly recording and monitoring their telephone conversations, established that the individuals linked to the criminal world regularly organized so-called “thieves’ arbitrations” and made decisions in accordance with so-called “thieves’ traditions” at the instruction of Thief-In-Law Giorgi Gogoladze, who lives outside Georgia.

The MIA confiscated computer equipment, cell phones, weapons, cash money and narcotic drugs during the search of the detained individuals’ residential places and motorcars.

The investigation is in progress under Articles 223-1, 223-3, 223-4, and 236 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provide for imprisonment for a term of up to 15 years.