121 people arrested on drug charges
As a result of operational measures and investigative actions carried out across the country, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have arrested 121 people on drug charges, including 59 people involved in various forms of drug trafficking, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced at a briefing.
As noted at the briefing, the detainees include both Georgian and foreign citizens.
"The police, based on the judge's ruling, have carried out controlled purchases of narcotics several times and secretly recorded audio and video of the purchases.
In addition, those individuals have been detained, in order to expose whom law enforcement officers replaced parcels sent disguised in their names and seized a particularly large amount of narcotics as evidence.
As a result of the search of the defendants' personal, residential homes and vehicles, as well as during the investigative experiment conducted, law enforcement officers seized a particularly large amount of various narcotics and psychotropic substances prepared for sale from the places indicated by them, including: "Methadone", "Alpha-PVP", "Cocaine", "Ketamine", "Buprenorphine", "Marijuana" and the plant "Cannabis" and others.
The police also seized materials necessary for packaging narcotics, electric scales and money allegedly received as a result of drug sales.
The investigation is underway under Articles 260, 260 Tertia, 260 Quarta, 261 and 265 Prima of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years or life imprisonment.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs actively continues its uncompromising fight against drug crime. This is confirmed by statistical data for the first six months of the current year. During the reporting period, about 5,000 people were prosecuted for drug crimes, including about 1,000 people involved in drug trafficking in various ways. Compared to the same period last year, the number of people prosecuted for drug crimes has increased by 85%.
"I would also like to note that police units will continue to take the strictest measures provided for by law against individuals involved in drug trafficking," they said at a briefing at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.