45 Georgian citizens arrested abroad for robbery, money laundering

Forty-five Georgian citizens have been detained abroad with the help of the Georgian police, the Georgian Interior Ministry reported earlier today. 

The detainees have been charged with robbery, money laundering, membership in a criminal group, smuggling of tobacco and the sale of stolen items. 

Twenty-three of the Georgian citizens were detained in Italy, 17 in France, two in Poland, one in Greece, one in Belgium and one in Slovenia. 

The detainees face seven to 10 years in prison if convicted. 

The detained Georgian citizens were robbing flats in Northern Italy and were trying to set up a legal business with the money received from the sale of the robbed items,” the Georgian Interior Ministry stated. 

The ministry says that the Georgian citizens who were detained in France were members of a criminal group.