Crime-solving rate increased from 35.5% to 50% in 2021, Interior Minister tells PMs

Georgian law enforcement agencies improved their crime-solving rate from 35.5 percent to 50 percent in 2021, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri told the Georgian Parliament on Thursday as he summed up the Ministry's activities at the lawmaking body.

Commenting on drug-related crimes and illegal turnover of drugs in the country, Gomelauri said 136 drug dealers had been arrested and eight drug stores closed throughout the country last year.

The Minister also raised the question of tougher punishment for drug-related crimes, and mentioned newly-approved amendments that set the minimal punishment for the sale of drugs, psychotropic and psychoactive substances at 10 years.

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Summing up the ministry’s activities, Gomelauri said the state body had started monitoring of individuals who had committed crimes against sexual freedom and sexual inviolability since 2021. He said a total of 240 employees had been trained in 2021 to investigate such crimes.

The Georgian official also said the law enforcement’s efforts against organised crimes remained a priority for the Interior Ministry, and revealed plans for a gradual increase in the number of law enforcement officers, as well as introduction of services in all major cities of the country.

Gomelauri was speaking at the Parliament as part of his turn to address MPs in the Minister’s Hour format, where Government officials cover matters concerning their field of work, and answer questions from legislators.