11 arrested in Georgia over large-scale drug offences

Georgia’s Central Criminal Police Department has arrested 11 people at different times on drug-related charges, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

The suspects, including Georgian and foreign nationals, are accused of illegally acquiring and possessing particularly large quantities of drugs and psychotropic substances, facilitating their sale, and illegally planting and cultivating cannabis.

The suspects were allegedly involved in a scheme to distribute drugs. They placed drugs at various locations for subsequent sale and sent coordinates and photographs of the locations to potential buyers.

During searches of the suspects, their homes and vehicles, as well as investigative experiments at locations they identified, police seized drugs prepared for sale. These included 192 packages of methadone, as well as Suboxone, ketamine, hashish, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 150 pregabalin-containing tablets, more than 1kg of marijuana and cannabis plants.

Police also seized materials allegedly used to package drugs and money believed to have been obtained from drug sales.

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