Police arrested 3 individuals for group assistance in extortion of a “large amount of money” and attempts to damage property in Kvemo Kartli.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, investigation established the offenders had fulfilled orders from a member of the “criminal underworld” to demand payment of large sums of money from residents in Marneuli municipality, threatening to kill them and damage their property in case of refusal.

Following a refusal by one of the victims, one of the detained individual, allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail with the aim of destroying a car in the yard of one of the victim’s houses, while the offenders also left a threatening letter along with 3 cartridges in the yard of another victim.

Law enforcement officers seized the cartridges as evidence in the latter case, with the crime punishable by up to 9 years of imprisonment.