119 people arrested on drug charges in 48 hours, including 49 drug dealers

As a result of police operations conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tbilisi and the regions over the past 48 hours, 119 people have been arrested on drug charges, including 49 drug dealers.

As stated by the Director of the Tbilisi Police Department, Vazha Siradze, at a briefing held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the detainees include both Georgian and foreign citizens.

According to him, during the search of the personal belongings, cars and residential buildings of the persons arrested on charges of drug crimes, law enforcement officers also seized a particularly large amount of various types of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances from the places indicated by them as evidence, including: "heroin", "cocaine", "alpha-PVP", "methadone", "mephedrone", "buprenorphine" and others.

"Within the framework of police-preventive measures, as a result of investigative actions, materials necessary for packaging narcotic drugs, money allegedly received as a result of the sale of narcotic drugs, a large amount of firearms and ammunition were also seized.

"Law enforcement officers, based on a judge's ruling, have repeatedly carried out controlled purchases of narcotics from persons arrested on charges of illegal drug trafficking and secretly recorded audio-video recordings of these purchases. Based on the evidence obtained as a result of investigative actions, It is established that the arrested drug dealers systematically took drugs from citizens in exchange for a certain amount of money.

The investigation is underway under Articles 260, 260 tertia, 260 quatertia, 265 and 236 of the Criminal Code, which provides for imprisonment for up to 20 years or life imprisonment.

Police units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs throughout the country continue their uncompromising fight against organized crime, including drug crime, in a continuous regime. I thank each employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the successfully conducted police measures,” said Vazha Siradze.