Four arrested in western Georgia over large-scale drug trafficking

Police in Georgia’s Imereti region have detained four people, including three foreign nationals, on charges of illegally acquiring and possessing particularly large quantities of narcotics, as well as selling drugs and facilitating their sale, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

Officers carried out a controlled drug purchase from one of the suspects and secretly recorded the transaction with a court warrant.

Police subsequently searched the suspects and their temporary residences, as well as locations identified by them, and seized particularly large quantities of drugs allegedly prepared for sale. The seized substances included more than 2 kilograms of methadone and marijuana, the ministry said.

Officers also seized materials allegedly intended for packaging narcotics and money believed to have been obtained from drug sales.

The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

The four suspects are presumed innocent unless and until convicted by a final court judgment.