Police Crack Down on Armed Groups in Western Georgia

Georgian Interior Ministry forces launched a special operation early on February 4 in the west Georgian town of Zugdidi, at the Abkhaz conflict zone, arresting 30 people and confiscating arms.

The round-up was carried out under the personal supervision of Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze, who said later at the news briefing that the target of the operation was people engaged in criminal activities in the conflict zone.

He said that the criminals were committing kidnapping, smuggling and other crimes under the pretext of conducting guerrilla operations in neighboring Abkhazia.

“But in reality they were cooperating with the Abkhaz criminal gangs and were engaged in the smuggling,” Giorgi Baramidze said. 

Later the police released around 10 detainees out of 30; reportedly they are so called supporters of Georgia’s first President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. 

Later on the same day President Saakashvili paid a short visit to Zugdidi and met the local population, which reportedly hailed the anti-crime operation in the region.