Eight arrested on drug charges across Georgia

Officers from the Interior Ministry’s Tbilisi Police Department and regional departments in Kakheti, Imereti and Samtskhe-Javakheti have arrested eight people at different times on suspicion of drug-related offences, the ministry said on Wednesday.

The suspects have been accused of illegally purchasing and possessing large and especially large quantities of narcotic substances, facilitating the sale of psychotropic substances and marijuana, and unlawfully cultivating plants containing narcotic substances.

Those detained include both Georgian citizens and foreign nationals.

Law enforcement officers seized various types of drugs as evidence during searches of the suspects’ persons, homes and auxiliary premises, as well as from locations they indicated. The substances confiscated include methadone, dried marijuana and cannabis plants, the ministry said.

Investigators also seized materials allegedly used for packaging narcotics.

The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years or life imprisonment, according to the ministry.