Two Azerbaijani citizens arrested in Batumi on major drug trafficking charges

Police in western Georgia have arrested two citizens of Azerbaijan on suspicion of possessing and distributing large and especially large quantities of narcotic and psychotropic substances.

Officers from the central criminal police department of the ministry’s Adjara regional division detained the suspects in the city of Batumi, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Monday.

 The detainees, identified by their initials as A.Z., born in 1998, and E.F., born in 1999, have been accused of illegally purchasing, storing and facilitating the sale of drugs as part of a group acting with prior agreement.

Law enforcement officers carried out searches of the suspects’ personal belongings and their temporary residence. During the searches and a subsequent investigative experiment, police seized evidence from locations indicated by the suspects.

The Interior Ministry said the items confiscated included particularly large quantities of drugs and psychotropic substances prepared for sale.

Among them were cocaine, dried marijuana, methamphetamine, Lyrica and pregabalin. Police also recovered materials used for packaging narcotics.

If convicted, the suspects could face up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.