Georgian authorities have arrested 44 people in the latest wave of an ongoing crackdown against the post-Soviet mafia network known as the ‘thieves-in-law’. Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said on Tuesday that another six individuals will be charged in absentia — one of whom appears to be the exiled crime boss Mamuka Shubitidze, also known as Mamuka Kakhetinsky or Davit Baratashvili.
Darakhvelidze said the individuals were in contact with Shubitidze, who reportedly left for Egypt after being released from prison in Russia in 2024. Shubitidze has a lengthy rap sheet that includes charges of fraud, assault, theft, and the alleged murder of a Georgian police officer in the 1990s, the latter of which reportedly led to him fleeing the country for Russia. He then went on to an illustrious criminal career in Siberia that lasted for more than two decades, according to Russian media.
During the operation, Darakhvelidze said weapons, money, and other pieces of evidence were seized, including communications between those detained and Shubitidze.
The operation is the latest indication that Georgian authorities are stepping up their efforts to rein in the country’s mafia network, one of the most prominent in the post-Soviet world.
In March, 70 were detained in a police operation in Georgia’s southern Adjara region, and in December 2025, 49 were detained in another counter-mafia operation, which resulted in 63 being prosecuted for their links to the thieves-in-law.
Yousef Bardouka
