The Ministry of Internal Affairs has conducted a nationwide police operation over the past 24 hours, within the frames of which 42 individuals have been arrested on charges of drug trafficking – most of them are major drug dealers, while some are accused of illegal purchase and storage of large quantities of drugs, said the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, at today`s briefing.

Individuals were arrested by the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the Prosecutor General`s Office, as a result of operational, investigative and procedural measures carried out in Tbilisi and the regions of the country.

Among the detainees are both Georgian and foreign citizens.

Evidence obtained as a result of covert investigative actions conducted on the basis of a judge`s ruling in the form of audio and video recordings, confirmed that the majority of the detained individuals were involved in a drug trafficking scheme. Drug offenders used an internet application to place narcotics in specific locations for the purpose of further sale, sending information to persons interested in purchasing drugs. It is also established that the detainees obtained drugs by various methods.

Law enforcement officers seized a particularly large amount of various types of narcotics, which were planned to be sold on the so-called black market. The following drugs were seized: "heroin", "cocaine", "alpha PVP", "buprenorphine", "suboxine", "methadone", "ketamine", "mephedrone", "mDMA", "marijuana" and others.

The crimes committed by the defendants envision up to 20 years or life imprisonment.

The goal of each employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is to protect society from the harmful effects of drugs and identify all those involved in criminal schemes.

Herewith, I would like to provide you with information about three individuals detained in connection with the incident that occurred on Melikishvili Avenue in Tbilisi on September 8-9.

The injured activists did not cooperate with the investigation and based on their testimonies, it became impossible to hold two individuals detained on charges of group violence accountable - therefore, they were released from detention today.

As for the citizen detained on charges of damaging property, as we know, the Prosecutor General`s Office of Georgia has already applied to the court to grant him bail as a preventive measure, and he will be released from detention in few hours", - said Aleksandre Darakhvelidze.