Chinese nationals arrested in Georgia for illegally buying uranium

Georgia's internal security service said on Saturday that it had arrested three Chinese citizens in the capital Tbilisi, for attempting to illegally purchase two kilograms of "nuclear material" uranium, Georgia's Interpress news agency reported. 

CNN has reported that Interpress cited the deputy head of Georgia's State Security Service as saying the three detainees had been planning to buy the uranium for $400,000 and transport it to China, via Russia. The uranium was "nuclear material," it said, without elaborating on the motive for the planned purchase. 

It quoted the security official as saying that the detainees faced charges that could see them imprisoned for up to 10 years. 

The security of nuclear materials left over from the Soviet era was one of the biggest concerns after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was a member. There have been several serious incidents involving the illicit trade in nuclear materials in Georgia over recent decades. 

In July, Georgia arrested one Georgian and one Turkish national, charged with the illegal purchase, possession and disposal of radioactive substances, which the national security service said could have been used to make a deadly bomb. 

On the other hand, Mexico has handed an alleged Chinese fentanyl kingpin over to authorities in the United States, where he is wanted for money laundering and drug trafficking. 

Zhi Dong Zhang is accused in court documents of exporting, transporting and distributing more than 1,000 kg of cocaine and 1,800 kg of fentanyl as well as laundering more than $150 million in illegal annual profits, according to CNNE. 

Investigators claim the Chinese national, known by the alias "Brother Wang," operated in the US, Central America, Europe, China and Japan and that he formed alliances with Mexican criminal organizations to carry out trafficking, the records show. 

Zhang was first arrested in Mexico last October and granted house arrest while awaiting a court hearing for his extradition to the US.