Police Arrest 97 in Nationwide Crackdown on Organized Crime, Including 81 for Drug Offenses

2026-02-18 - 10:54

Police arrested 97 people involved in organized crime over the past two days, including 81 engaged in drug dealing and drug-related schemes, in what Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze described as a “large-scale” and “very successful” operation. According to Geladze, who spoke about the operation at a February 18 briefing, police seized a “particularly large quantity of various types of narcotic substances,” including heroin, cocaine, alpha-PVP, Suboxone, and buprenorphine, along with materials allegedly used for packaging and cultivating drugs and cash believed to have been obtained from drug sales. Both Georgian and foreign citizens were arrested. According to Geladze, the detainees included a Latvian citizen who attempted to bring “more than half a kilogram of cocaine” into Georgia, as well as two Iranian citizens linked to a “drug laboratory” he said had been set up in a residential apartment in Tbilisi, where “up to half a kilogram of methamphetamine” was seized. Additionally, 16 people were arrested over firearms, as Geladze said that “dozens of firearms, including automatic weapons and hand grenades,” were seized. The detainees face multiple charges and could receive sentences of up to 20 years or life in prison. In his concluding remarks, Geladze warned potential offenders, saying, “There is no argument that can protect a criminal from punishment.” He added, “On behalf of the Georgian government and all law enforcement agencies, we promise the public that our country will achieve some of the world’s most successful results in fighting crime.” Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, speaking to the disputed Parliament under an interpellation procedure, thanked Geladze and law enforcement for what he described as their “impressive” results in tackling organized and drug-related crimes. The arrests follow the Georgian Dream government’s stated “uncompromising” fight against drug-related and organized crime, corruption, and illegal migration. At the end of 2025, the Interior Ministry said it had arrested more than 5,000 people for drug-related offenses over seven months, including 2,000 involved in drug dealing, and vowed to continue its crackdown on drugs. Also read: 22/01/2026 – Police Make ‘Unprecedented’ 88 Arrests in Drug Crackdown 12/12/2025 – Authorities to Create Centralized Mental Health Database Amid Rights, Stigma Concerns 03/07/2025 – GD Bans Drug Replacement Therapy, Psychotropic Imports for Private Sector 02/07/2025 – Georgian Dream Criminalizes Small Marijuana Possession