Georgian police had previously detained the woman eight times for drug trafficking, but she escaped justice each time. According to authorities, she headed a 26-member gang of drug dealers, predominantly female, with the exception of eight men.
One of her accomplices, a 79-year-old woman who faces 20 years in prison, bit the policemen trying to arrest her when they discovered about 480 doses of heroin in her house. Four members of the woman's family are already serving sentences for drug dealing.
The country's new law on drugs, tightening punishment for drug-related crimes, came into force August 2.
The country's health service estimates the number of drug users at 250,000-300,000, out of a population of 4.6 million, with an average age of 18.5 years. In 2006, a poll revealed that some 54% of respondents had tried drugs by the age of 15.
