Officers of the Interior Ministry’s Central Criminal Police Department detained eight people in Georgia on charges of illegal acquisition and storage of drugs in an especially large amount, their import into Georgia and facilitation of sale.[1] Those detained included citizens of Georgia, Turkey and Japan.[2]

Searches of the suspects’ homes, personal searches and investigative experiments recovered especially large batches of narcotic and psychotropic substances prepared for sale from caches the suspects indicated.[1] The seizure list included cocaine, methadone, buprenorphine, methamphetamine, opium, amphetamine, marijuana and cannabis plants, plus about 300 pregabalin tablets.[1] Part of the suspects distributed drugs through dead-drop caches known as zakladki.[2] During operational measures police found the dead-drop caches equipped by them with prohibited substances intended for further sale.[2] Other suspects were linked to an international supply channel in which prohibited substances arrived in Georgia in foreign postal parcels made out in the suspects’ names.[2] Those parcels were intercepted by customs officers at the criminal police’s request.[2] Some detainees were exposed through a special operation by the Central Criminal Police jointly with the Customs Department of the Revenue Service using controlled substitution of postal packages addressed to them.[3] Police also found materials intended for packaging drugs during the investigation.[3]

The alleged offences carry up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.[1]