Within the framework of international police cooperation, members of various criminal groups - citizens of Georgia - were taken under arrest in Italy and France with the active involvement of the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and active participation of Georgian police attaches.

On February 9, 2021, with the direct involvement of the Police attache of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to Italy, the officers of Central Operative Service of the Ministry of Interior of Italy, Regio Emilia Regional Police under the Public Safety Department and Interpol, as a result of intensive operative search and investigative activities, exposed and detained 21 Georgian citizens in Italy, 2 individuals in Poland, 1 individual in Greece, one in Belgium and another one in Slovenia within the frames of the operation under the name “Thief-in-law”. The mentioned persons were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Italy and EU member states.

The investigation established that the detained Georgian citizens were robbing the apartments in northern Italy, sending the stolen items to specific venues for further realization, and attempted to start a legal business on the territory of the Italian Republic with the money illegally obtained from the stolen items.

Due to the mentioned criminal actions, the Department of Public Safety of the Italian Republic has launched an investigation against the citizens of Georgia under Articles 416, 624 and 648 under the Criminal Code of Italy, envisaging the formation of criminal groups, theft and money laundering. The mentioned criminal action envisages up to 7 years of imprisonment.

Within the framework of operation “Thief- in –Law”, Georgian law enforcers, as a result of a 6-month cooperation and direct participation of the Police Attache of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, exchanged operative information a number of times on Georgian citizens involved in the mentioned criminal activities with the Italian side.

In order to conceal the traces of crime to Italian police forces, Georgian citizens actively used forged data and documents. As a result of the complex measures and active involvement of the Forensic-Criminalistics Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, all the individuals who participated in the mentioned crimes were identified.

Operation “Thief –in- Law” is only the part of a large-scale operation being carried out jointly by Georgian and Italian law enforcement agencies.

In addition to the mentioned, on February 9, 2021, joint operation “BRATVA-35” was carried out in the Republic of France, as a result of intensive operative-investigative activities with the direct involvement of the Georgian police attache and the Georgian Liaison Officer deployed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to the French National Police.

As part of the operation, in the cities of the French Republic: La Roche-sur-Yon, Noir, Angers, Bordeaux and Rennes, the “thief in law” of Georgian origin - K.A. And 17 citizens of Georgia were detained.

The detainees were members of an organized criminal group and actively involved in criminal activities in France and other EU states. In particular, they are charged under Articles 131, 132, 311, 321, 450 of the Criminal Code of the French Republic and Article 414 of the Customs Code, which includes a number of episodes of theft committed by an organized group in commercial premises on the territory of the French Republic, participation in an organized criminal group, purchase / sale of criminally obtained property and illegal trade of illegally obtained tobacco products, which envisages up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine in the amount of 375 thousand Euros.