Briefing of the director of the Central Criminal Police Department - Teimuraz Kupatadze
The employees of the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as a result of complex investigative actions conducted in cooperation with the General Prosecutor's Office, solved a scheme of illegal drug trade, identified dozens of members of the criminal group, arrested them and brought them to justice.
As a result of investigative actions conducted by the police at different times and locations, 22 members of the transnational organized crime group have been arrested and charged at this stage.
Citizens of Georgia, Bulgaria and Turkey are among those arrested and charged.
Within the framework of the ongoing investigation, on July 18 of the current year, as a result of the police activities held in Adjara, 3 drug leaders of the organized crime group were charged in absentia.
In addition to the mentioned, based on the judge's decision, 3 persons were arrested: citizens of Georgia and active lawyers - M.Z. (DoB 1984), A.F. (DoB 1986), as well as Turkish citizen M.Ch. (DoB 1971).
The detained lawyers were members of an organized crime group, managing the bank accounts used by the mentioned group. In order to conceal the origin of the money, they converted the funds into foreign currency and transferred to the accounts of persons involved in the illegal drug trade.
The persons engaged in the criminal scheme were illegally importing drugs in especially large quantities, such as: "Heroin", "Cocaine", "Buprenorphine", "Methadone", "Methamphetamine", "Amphetamine" and "MDMA" into Georgia.
The defendants pre-packed narcotic drugs for further realization and placed them in different locations, as the money received from the sale of narcotic drugs was laundered.
As a result of the personal search, and search activities held in residential houses and vehicles of the detainees, the police seized a large amount of various types of drugs, vehicles, firearms and ammunition as evidence.
Various means of communication were also seized - computer equipment and mobile phones, through which the accused persons communicated with each other.
Committed crimes envision up to 20 years or life imprisonment.
The investigation is being conducted under Articles 260 and 194 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.
