Georgian police arrest 21 in crackdown on criminal underworld network

Georgian police have arrested 21 people and charged nine others as part of an operation targeting individuals allegedly linked to the country's criminal underworld, authorities said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a briefing, Central Criminal Police Department Director Davit Kiknadze said the arrests were carried out over the past 24 hours in Tbilisi, Shida Kartli and Kvemo Kartli by officers of the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to investigators, the suspects were involved in organising so-called "criminal dispute resolutions" to settle financial disagreements. Police alleged that an overseas-based criminal figure, Elmuraz Mamedov, played a coordinating role in the scheme.

Authorities claimed individuals linked to Mamedov pressured business owners to pay large sums of money under criminal underworld rules and allegedly threatened victims with violence or death if payments were not made within specified deadlines.

Police said searches conducted during the operation led to the seizure of mobile phones, computer equipment, vehicles, firearms, ammunition and more than $62,000 in cash, which investigators believe had been collected for a criminal fund.

The investigation is being conducted under articles of Georgia's Criminal Code related to membership in, support for and activities connected with the so-called criminal underworld. The offences carry a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison.