Georgian police seize record 28 kilograms of methadone in nationwide crackdown

Georgian law enforcement officers uncovered a clandestine drug laboratory and seized an unprecedented amount of up to 28 kilograms of methadone, marking the largest quantity of methadone ever confiscated by the police in Georgia, said on Monday Giorgi Bukhrashvili, the director of the Adjara Police Department.

Officers also discovered three greenhouses intended for the cultivation of narcotic substances.

“Over the past few days, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have carried out another series of successful police operations against organised crime in Tbilisi and across the regions. A clandestine drug laboratory and three greenhouses intended for the cultivation of narcotic substances were uncovered, along with an unprecedented amount - up to 28 kilograms - of methadone. This is the largest quantity of methadone ever seized by police. Both Georgian citizens and foreign nationals have been arrested”, he said.

As a result of searches of the detainees’ persons and residential apartments, as well as investigative experiments conducted at locations they indicated, law enforcement officers seized ready-for-sale narcotic substances and materials necessary for packaging drugs.

“Based on operational information, investigative actions carried out in Tbilisi and various regions led to the discovery of drug laboratories in residential apartments at different addresses, where drug offenders were illicitly producing various types of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances using makeshift methods. Specially equipped greenhouses were also discovered, where particularly large quantities of cannabis were being illegally grown and cultivated”, the official continued.

Law enforcement officers seized materials required for the cultivation of narcotic substances, as well as money believed to have been obtained from the sale of drugs, as evidence.

In addition, as part of this police operation, officers also seized firearms, automatic weapons, and ammunition.

The offences are punishable by up to 20 years or life imprisonment.