Police detain four in Tbilisi for group extortion, violence, illegal possession of drugs
The victim was released on the condition of depositing ₾20,000 ($7,591) into the group’s bank account within a few days, while a third individual, who was a witness to the acts, failed to notify law enforcement about the offences. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Four individuals have been arrested for group extortion of large amounts of money, group violence, illegal possession of drugs and failure to report crime, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Wednesday.
The state body said its investigation had established the offenders, who had criminal history, had used deception to take their acquaintance to a residential house before handing them over 300 grams of illegal drugs with a directive of selling them within two weeks and delivering the profits to the group. They threatened the victim with harm to their family members in case of failure to follow their orders.
After the individual failed to follow the requests, they were forcibly taken to a Tbilisi suburb, with the offenders exercising physical violence and issuing threats of torture and killing of their family members, the Ministry said.
The victim was released on the condition of depositing ₾20,000 ($7,591) into the group’s bank account within a few days, while a third individual, who was a witness to the acts, failed to notify law enforcement about the offences.
Law enforcement officers covertly recorded evidence confirming the acts after obtaining a court warrant, the body added, before arresting and charging two with extortion and group violence and one with failure to report the crimes.
Police also seized a “large amount” of cannabis from a flat of an “individual related to one of the offenders”, bringing the number of arrested persons to four.
The group is facing up to seven years in prison.
The Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia on Tuesday said it had arrested five individuals for sale of excise-free cigarettes designated for destruction through use of fake documents on the elimination of the products.
Georgian police have arrested 13 individuals in Tbilisi and other regions of the country on charges of illegal purchase and possession of firearms and ammunition, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
The Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia arrested an individual for manufacture and sale of forged official documents in capital Tbilisi, the state body said on Wednesday.
Georgian police on Tuesday said law enforcement officers had arrested 45 individuals, including 23 drug dealers, for sale, purchase, possession and smuggling of drugs across the country “over the recent period”.
Georgian police have arrested 10 individuals, including foreign citizens, for illegal drug-dealing in Tbilisi and other regions of the country.
Georgian police on Thursday said law enforcement officers had arrested 55 individuals on drug-related charges, including 37 for drug-dealing.
Georgian police on Thursday said law enforcement officers had arrested 52 individuals on drug-related charges, including 37 for drug-dealing, sale, purchase, possession and smuggling of drugs, in capital Tbilisi and other regions of the country.
The Georgian Interior Ministry on Thursday said its law enforcement officers had detained three “criminal authorities” for group extortion of money in the country’s western Imereti region.
Georgian police on Tuesday said law enforcement officers had arrested more than 10 individuals, including a Ukrainian citizen, on drug-related charges in ongoing operations across the country.