TBILISI, April 7 – Georgian authorities said Tuesday they had arrested 44 people in a nationwide operation targeting suspects linked to the country’s criminal underworld, with charges also set to be filed in absentia against six more.
The announcement was made by Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze at a briefing, where he said one of the six to be charged in absentia is an alleged “thief-in-law” living abroad. In the post-Soviet criminal world, that term refers to a high-ranking underworld figure with recognized authority inside the network.
According to the Interior Ministry, investigators found through covert investigative actions that the accused had been organizing so-called “criminal disputes” and issuing so-called “criminal decisions.” Authorities say the detainees were in contact with members of the criminal underworld, including an alleged thief-in-law identified as Mamuka Shubitidze.
Darakhvelidze said Shubitidze, acting under what the ministry described as “thieves’ rules,” allegedly made decisions in financial and other criminal disputes between citizens for personal gain, and then imposed payments on the parties involved. The ministry also said that if deadlines were missed, threats of physical violence and death followed.
Investigators further allege that some of the accused regularly passed information to the alleged crime boss about people living in Tbilisi and the Kakheti region who could later be targeted for financial gain or extortion in the name of the underworld.
Authorities said the operation led to the seizure of a vehicle, firearms, ammunition, mobile phones and computer equipment. According to the ministry, the devices were used by the suspects to communicate with one another and with a Georgian alleged thief-in-law living abroad.
The investigation is being conducted under articles of Georgia’s Criminal Code which carry penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
The police action follows several coordinated raids in recent months, targeting organized crime networks.
