Seven members of int'l drug ring detained, $2.1 mln worth of drugs seized in Georgia - Interior Ministry
TBILISI. Dec 26 (Interfax) - Georgian police have detained seven members of an international organized criminal group which produced and sold synthetic drugs in Georgia and abroad, head of the Georgian Interior Ministry's Central Criminal Police Directorate Mamuka Chelidze said.
Drugs worth a total of six million lari ($2.1 million) were seized; one Georgian citizen and six nationals of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Russia are among the detainees, Chelidze said.
"Police officers seized up to 21 kilos of synthetic narcotic powder and up to ten liters of liquid narcotics in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi. The value of the seized drugs on the black market amounts to six million lari," Chelidze said at a press briefing on Thursday.
A Ukrainian citizen led the organized criminal group, he said.
"The investigation uncovered that the international organized group of drug dealers illegally manufactured and sold drugs in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Georgia, and particularly in large quantities in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi," Chelidze said.