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Police Seizes 25kg Heroin, detains 143 Dealers This Year

By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, September 20
The Georgian Interior Ministry says that they have managed to seize 25 kg heroin and detain 143 drug dealers in the nine months of 2018.

As in other statements about drugs the ministry mentioned Marneuli region in eastern Georgia resided by ethnic minorities and the Ponichala district in the outskirts of Tbilisi, where the individuals were detained who had been systematically selling heroin and other drugs in especially large quantities.

Despite the fact punishment is strict in Georgia for drug dealing, starting from 8 years to life imprisonment, the ministry briefings on the detention of drug dealers have become frequent.

Iranian citizens, who smuggle in drugs in large quantities in Georgia, are also often mentioned as detained at the border or at the Tbilisi International Airport.

The state body stated that since January 1, 2018, the Interior Ministry has seized:

25 kg Heroin.
1.5 kg Cocaine.
8,990 pills of Subutex.
2.1 kg MDMA.
1.2 kg of psychotropic drugs.

The opposition says that the Georgian law enforcers fail to better control drug trafficking at the checkpoints or airports.

They call on the government to ensure higher level control on smuggling in drug to prevent their following spread and the sale in the country.