Law enforcement officers identify and prevent international drug trafficking, said the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, at today’s briefing.

“I would like to inform the public regarding a large-scale police operation conducted by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Law enforcement officers have identified and foiled another case of international drug trafficking.

The police seized 250 kilograms of the “heroin” drug, the value of which is approximately 80 million GEL on the so-called black market.

Two Georgian citizens, previously convicted of drug crimes, have been arrested for the illegal purchase and storage of a particularly large amount of drugs, as well as for their illegal smuggling to Georgia and their illegal export from the country.

The committed crime envisions up to 20 years or life imprisonment.

Evidence obtained by the investigation shows that a truck, which, according to customs documentation, was loaded with “wet wipes”, entered Georgia from a neighboring country through the “Red Bridge” customs checkpoint.

Law enforcement officers, during a detailed inspection of the cargo at Batumi clearance economic zone, seized 250 kilograms of heroin, secretly packed in 2,907 packages of wet wipes.

As a result of additional investigative actions carried out by law enforcement officers into the criminal case, 2 packages of heroin were also seized from the residence of one of the detainees. The police operation was carried out by officers of the Central Criminal Police Department, together with officers of the Prosecutor General"s Office and the Customs Department of the Revenue Service under the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs, along with other relevant agencies, actively continues complex measures to identify persons involved in drug-related crimes and bring them to criminal justice.

The investigation is in progress under Articles 260 and 262 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

This successful police operation once again confirms that our country"s law enforcement officers have appropriate resources and the level of professionalism to detect and foil such category of crimes.

I would like to express my special gratitude to all the police officers and customs department employees involved in uncovering this crime”, - said Aleksandre Darakhvelidze.