Officers from the police departments of Tbilisi, Adjara, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Imereti, and Kvemo Kartli of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia have detained 15 individuals on charges of drug-related crimes, the Ministry reports.

According to the agency, the detainees include both Georgian citizens and foreign nationals, as well as previously convicted individuals. They are accused of illegally acquiring and possessing narcotic substances in large and particularly large quantities, as well as facilitating their distribution.

“As a result of personal searches of the suspects, searches of their homes and auxiliary premises, and during a conducted investigative experiment, various types of narcotics prepared for sale were seized from locations indicated by the suspects as evidence, including: dried marijuana, mephedrone, cocaine, alpha-PVP, thebaine, methadone, and buprenorphine.

In addition, materials needed for packaging the narcotics, as well as money presumably obtained from their sale, were also seized during the investigative actions.

The investigation is being conducted under Articles 260 and 260¹ of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provide for punishment of up to 20 years or life imprisonment,” the statement said.