Police arrested two Russian men, Dimitry, 43, and Vitaly, 37, on 24 May as they attempted to sell large quantities of drugs in Tbilisi.
Vitaly said during questioning that they came to Georgia on 7 May.
‘We came to one apartment. Pavel met us and told us that he had braught drugs from Russia and we had to distribute them to particular addresses’, Vitaly added.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, police seized a number of illegal drugs while searching the men’s apartment, including designer drug ‘bio’, amphetamine, and MDMA.
‘The investigation established that the detainees sold various types of drugs through the internet. They received orders through the internet and distributed drugs in various districts of Tbilisi’, the ministry’s statement reads.
People in Georgia have recently began to report in social media receiving anonymous messages offering to sell them drugs. These offers are often sent to minors.
‘I got the drug commercial message on Viber. They offer all kinds of poison starting from ₾100 ($41). I hope someone from the [Ministry of Internal Affairs] also got the message and they will take care of it’, Irakli Topuria wrote on his Facebook page.
Megi Gelashvili, another Facebook user wrote that she thinks it is necessary to prevent this drug dealing by identifying the senders before they actually sell the drugs, and she fears that minors could easily be tempted with such messages.
The messages ask that payment be made online via QIWI — a Russian payment service. While investigating, the Public Broadcaster discovered that the dealers were also attempting to recruit others into the scheme.
Both of the men arrested on Wednesday have admitted their guilt. If convicted in court they could face jail terms of 7–20 years, or even life sentences.
Georgian opposition party Lelo has proposed decriminalising drug use, as part of a proposal to reorient the country’s drug policy from a criminal justice approach to a healthcare one.
The proposal was announced at a press briefing by Saba Buadze, the chair of Lelo’s Tbilisi bureau, on Wednesday. He suggested that the ‘drug epidemic’ in the country was caused by the ‘criminal indifference and complicity’ of the Georgian Dream government.
In their nine-step policy, Lelo proposed:
* Decri
Historically, international reports have referred to Georgia as one of the corridors for the transit of Afghan heroin towards Europe. Liberali tried to find out how Georgia is tackling drug trafficking and what has changed since 2012 under the Georgian dream government.
In September 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published a report on the spread of Afghan heroin around the world.
The report noted that seven tons of heroin reached Europe through Georgia each year. Hero
Georgian drug policy reform advocates have marked the anniversary of police raids on night clubs Bassiani and Café Gallery in the capital Tbilisi.
Recently formed advocacy group 12 May, named after the night of the raids, draped banners over bridges and on public spots in Tbilisi bearing anti-government messages. These included references to the raids, the country’s harsh drug policies, as well as ironic references to their environmental policy, alleged control over the media, and scandals
Georgia’s parliament has adopted a new law restricting cannabis use, five months after the Constitutional Court made consumption of the drug legal. Restrictions allow only those 21 or above to consume the drug and only at home.
The court ruled on 30 July that any punishment for consuming cannabis was unconstitutional.
Under the new law, people will not face even administrative punishments, such as fines, if police discover they have taken cannabis. However, the new regulations adopted by
Police 
