Briefing of Mr. Vladimer Bortsvadze, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs
Within the framework of international police cooperation, on April 4, this year a large-scale special operation “Merlin-Taka” was conducted in Barcelona, Spain. The operation involved 250 law enforcers, including Georgian police officers. As a result, more than 100 citizens of different countries, including 25 Georgian citizens, were arrested; they are accused of robbery and membership in the organized crime group.
In addition, 41 Georgian citizens are detained under administrative procedure for violating immigration regulations.
The special operation was carried out in one of the former school buildings in Barcelona, which was unlawfully occupied by the members of criminal gangs. Based on the judge’s decision, all other individuals, illegally accommodated in the building, were also evicted.
On the basis of a judge's decision, the law enforcers conductedsearches in the apartments of the detainees. The stolen items and large quantities of money gained by them in criminal way were seized.
The investigation found out that the members of the criminal gang used to select the apartments in advance, obtain and process the data about the selected objects, after which they used to commit burglaries.
25 detainees from Georgia are accused of crimes envisaged by the articles 237 and 570 of the Criminal Code of Spain, in particular the burglaries of the apartments committed in the territory of the Kingdom of Spain and membership of criminal groups.
The large-scale special operation in Barcelona was preceded by one-year joint operative-investigative work conducted by the National Police of the Spanish Kingdom and the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in Spain and Georgia.
One of the main priorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia is to fight against transnational organized crime.
