Turkish citizen arrested in Batumi for attempting illegal border crossing

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has detained a Turkish national accused of attempting to illegally cross the state border, the ministry announced on Thursday.

Officers from the Patrol Police Department’s Main Division for Border Management and Coordination and the Adjara Investigative Unit of the same department carried out a joint operational and investigative operation that led to the arrest, the MIA said.

The suspect, identified as M.A., born in 1994, was detained on the premises of the Batumi Port Border Crossing Point while allegedly attempting to leave Georgia by hiding inside a truck trailer to evade border control.

The investigation is being conducted under Article 19-344 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which pertains to the attempted illegal crossing of the state border. The offense is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment, according to the ministry.