TBILISI, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - Georgian Economic Development Minister Irakly Chogovadze has dismissed the staff of the ministry's general inspectorate, including the head of the department, following a drug scandal, the deputy economic minister said Thursday.
Natiya Turnava said the decision followed the arrest of a member of the inspectorate's staff, Ketevan Zarnadze, charged with trading illegal drugs.
Turnava said the decision had been made so that "Ketevan Zarnadze's crime [did] not cast a shadow on the reputation of the ministry."
Lasha Jugeli, the head of the department, supported the decision and submitted his resignation as soon as he had heard the news.
Georgian law enforcement authorities arrested Zarnadze, who had been doing heroin deals out of her apartment in Tbilisi, Wednesday. In October, she was caught by a hidden camera trading heroin in the building's elevator. Police subsequently seized a large quantity of heroin from her flat.
