Six arrested in Georgia for large-scale drug trafficking

Georgia's Central Criminal Police Department has arrested six people on suspicion of illegally acquiring and possessing particularly large quantities of narcotics, facilitating drug trafficking and cultivating narcotic plants, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Monday.

The suspects include both Georgian and foreign nationals.

The MIA said the suspects were involved in organised drug distribution schemes. They allegedly concealed narcotics at various locations intended for later sale, photographed the hiding places and sent buyers the images together with location coordinates to retrieve the drugs.

Police searches of the suspects and their homes, as well as searches at multiple other locations, resulted in the seizure of large quantities of drugs prepared for distribution, including nearly one kilogram of cocaine, five kilograms of marijuana, almost five kilograms of cannabis plants, hashish, 520 LSD blotters and 23 packages of mephedrone.

Investigators also seized materials allegedly used for packaging narcotics.

The offences are punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or life imprisonment, according to the ministry.