British citizen Matthew Roy Desmond, accused of smuggling a large quantity of narcotic and psychotropic substances into the country, failed to provide any medical documentation at the time of his arrest to prove that the three types of substances found in his possession had been prescribed by a doctor, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia told the InterpressNews online news agency.
As for the medical certificate issued in the UK and presented by the defense during the trial at the Tbilisi City Court, the Prosecutor’s Office noted that the investigation has not yet verified its authenticity.
Furthermore, the agency stated that negotiations for a plea agreement (plea bargain) were initiated by Matthew Roy Desmond himself and his defense lawyer. The amount of the financial fine was also proposed by them during the talks.
According to official information, during a search of Desmond’s hand luggage, customs officers discovered 112 tablets containing 0.0224 grams of buprenorphine (Subutex), 50 tablets containing 0.75 grams of codeine, and 39 capsules of the psychotropic substance pregabalin with a total weight of 5.8484 grams.
