Police arrest 142 in nationwide drug crackdown, including 62 suspected dealers

“Interior Ministry units are continuing large-scale operations against drug crime across the country. As a result, police have arrested 142 people on drug charges, 62 of them involved in drug dealing in various ways,” Davit Kiknadze, Director of the Central Criminal Police Department, told a briefing at the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

He said those arrested include both Georgian and foreign nationals.

“Evidence gathered during intensive investigative work shows that those arrested were systematically dealing drugs.

The suspects distributed drugs both directly through hand-to-hand sales and remotely via online apps and social media.

In addition, they left drugs at pre-selected hiding places and then sent the coordinates and photos to buyers.

Through controlled purchases of drugs carried out under court orders, searches of the suspects, their homes and cars, and searches of locations they pointed out, officers seized particularly large quantities of narcotics and psychotropic substances as evidence. These included cocaine, methadone, heroin, alpha-PVP, amphetamine, pregabalin, marijuana and others.

During the investigation, police also seized materials used to package drugs, electronic scales, cash believed to be the proceeds of drug dealing, and illegally acquired firearms and ammunition.

The investigation is being conducted under Articles 260, 260³, 260⁴, 261, 25–260, 265¹ and 236 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which carry sentences of up to 20 years or life imprisonment.

The Interior Ministry will continue its active fight against drug crime. Our main task is to identify those involved in drug trafficking, stop drug dealing and bring those responsible to justice in accordance with the law.

Police operations in this area will continue intensively across the country,” the ministry said.