Several serious incidents related to illegal trade in nuclear materials have occurred in the South Caucasus country in recent years.
Published October 25, 2025
Three Chinese nationals were arrested on suspicion of trying to buy 2kg of uranium in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, the State Security Service said.
Security authorities said in a statement on Saturday that the suspects were planning to transport nuclear material to China via Russia, and also released video footage of the capture operation.
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Authorities have accused Chinese nationals already in Georgia of violating visa regulations by bringing experts there to search for uranium in various parts of the country.
Other members of the criminal group coordinated the operation from China, authorities said. The perpetrators were identified and detained while “negotiating the details of the illegal transaction,” the State Security Service said.
The agency did not release the timing of the arrest or the identity of the suspect.
Officials said the group members planned to pay $400,000 for the radioactive material. They could be prosecuted and face up to 10 years in prison.
Georgia has seen several serious incidents involving illegal trade in nuclear materials in recent years. In July, the state of Georgia arrested a Georgian and a Turkish national and charged them with illegally purchasing, possessing, and disposing of radioactive materials. The National Security Agency said the radioactive material may have been used to make bombs.
The safety of nuclear materials left over from the Soviet era was one of the biggest concerns after the collapse of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was a member, in 1991. After Soviet research institutes were shut down, the country became a rich hunting ground for smugglers.
In 2019, the state of Georgia announced it had detained two people for trying to sell $2.8 million worth of uranium-238.
In 2016, authorities arrested 121 people, including Georgians and Armenians, in two sting operations in the same month, charging them with trying to sell about $203 million worth of uranium-238 and uranium-235.
