Georgian border police officer arrested over illicit tobacco smuggling

A border police officer and another man have been arrested in Georgia on charges of smuggling and storing untaxed tobacco products, the Interior Ministry  said on Thursday.

The arrests followed a joint investigation carried out by the ministry’s General Inspectorate, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Border Police.

A junior inspector of the Border Police’s land border protection unit in Batumi, western Georgia, has been accused of abusing his official position to smuggle 1,200 packets of Zumerret brand cigarettes into Georgia through the Sarpi crossing point, bypassing official controls.

Authorities said the officer acted in collusion with a Georgian citizen, born in 1962, who helped move the contraband and store part of it in a commercial property near the checkpoint, allegedly for resale.

The ministry said the cigarettes were seized during searches of the suspects’ premises.

If convicted, the men face up to six years in prison under articles covering abuse of power and illegal storage and transportation of untaxed goods in Georgia’s criminal code.