Turkish businessman Ozturk, owning dozens of companies in Georgia, charged on drug crimes

Turkish businessman Galif Ozturk, owning dozens of companies in Georgia, particularly in the coastal Adjara region, was charged with illegal purchase and possession of a particularly large amount of drugs, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia said on Thursday.

Ozturk was arrested on May 31 in Batumi, with the law enforcement agencies stating that 7.2159 gr cocaine was seized during the search.

The search was carried out by the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia per the ongoing investigation into possible evasion of a large amount of taxes, preparation and use of forged settlement documents and money laundering.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia is scheduled to apply to the Batumi City Court with a motion to use detention as a measure of restraint.

Ozturk owns dozens of business companies in Georgia that are part of Metro Holding or its partners.