Over 270 drug offenders arrested, 280kg of narcotics seized in Georgia’s latest crackdown, deputy Interior Minister

Georgian police have detained over 1,700 individuals and seized nearly 280 kilograms of illegal substances in anti-drug operations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on Friday. 

Speaking at a briefing, Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said the crackdown included the arrest of two foreign nationals accused of running a drug lab and cultivating cannabis in a makeshift greenhouse. Authorities confiscated more than seven litres of liquid cocaine, 40 grams of cocaine crystals, and 20 cannabis plants from the suspects’ rented apartment.

“This is part of our uncompromising fight against drug crime,” Darakhvelidze said, noting that the law prescribed up to 20 years or life imprisonment for offences involving particularly large quantities of narcotics.

Nationwide, police have identified 2,370 drug-related offences in recent months, leading to 1,712 arrests — 157 of them for drug trafficking. In total, law enforcement has seized:

4,500 pills of Subutex and Suboxone

2.5 kg of methadone

1 kg of Alpha-PVP

2.7 kg of Pregabalin (Lyrica)

72 kg of marijuana

150 kg of herbal cannabis

The Ministry attributed the results to intensified operational and investigative actions, supported by recent legal reforms that have toughened penalties for both drug use and distribution.

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs will continue its resolute and sustained efforts to tackle drug crime with the strictest measures provided by law,” Darakhvelidze added.