Georgia’s Interior Ministry has announced the prosecution of 63 individuals, including the detention of 49, on charges of connections with the post-Soviet mafia network, or thieves-in-law.
At a Tuesday briefing, Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said the operation was carried out nationwide. In addition to those detained, charges were pressed in absentia against 14 individuals, including five who are themselves thieves-in-law.
Darakhvelidze said investigative actions in the case had been underway for the past several months. The defendants are accused of maintaining contact with thieves-in-law based abroad, carrying out their instructions, and actively participating in the activities of the ‘criminal underworld’.
According to investigators, ‘thieves’ disputes’ were planned in Georgia and abroad with the involvement of the accused, referring to settling outstanding spats between mafia members using traditional rules — sometimes the resolution can require monetary restitution, but can include violence.
Darakhvelidze noted that thieves-in-law based outside the country were also involved in the meetings, with the accused requiring one of the disputing parties to pay a specified sum either to the other party or for their own benefit.
‘If those involved failed to comply with their instructions, they were subjected to verbal and physical abuse. They were also threatened with the killing of family members’, the Deputy Minister said.
During searches of the suspects’ homes, police seized computer equipment and mobile phones as evidence, which the accused allegedly used to communicate with each other and with thieves-in-law based abroad.
‘In addition, firearms were seized during the searches’, Darakhvelidze said.
In addition to the statement, the ministry released recordings that allegedly capture phone conversations between individuals linked to the criminal underworld.
The criminal charges under investigation carry sentences of up to 15 years in prison.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
