Georgia Arrests 27 People Allegedly Linked to Criminal Underworld
By Messenger Staff
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Georgia's Interior Ministry has arrested 27 people allegedly linked to the country's criminal underworld and will bring charges against six more, including an alleged "thief in law" who is abroad, a senior police official said.
Davit Kiknadze, director of the Central Criminal Police Department, said the arrests followed a large-scale police operation carried out with the Prosecutor General's Office.
According to Kiknadze, an investigation found that the suspects were receiving instructions from Mamuka Chkhaberidze, an alleged "thief in law" based abroad, and were acting according to his directions. Investigators said the group regularly communicated with each other and held meetings where decisions were made according to criminal traditions.
The suspects were also accused of intervening in financial disputes between individuals, forcing one party to pay money to another or to members of the group themselves. Kiknadze said those who failed to meet imposed deadlines were threatened with physical violence and death.
During searches of the suspects' homes and personal belongings, police seized mobile phones, computer equipment, firearms and ammunition, which investigators said were used as evidence.
The suspects are being investigated under several articles of Georgia's Criminal Code, including those related to membership in the criminal underworld and illegal possession of firearms. The charges carry prison sentences of up to 15 years.
Kiknadze said the Interior Ministry has continued operations against organized crime this year. Since January 1, law enforcement agencies have arrested and charged 343 people allegedly linked to the criminal underworld, including eight alleged "thieves in law."
