Counterfeit cigarettes found at Limassol port

LIMASSOL police said yesterday they had launched an investigation into the discovery of a container full of counterfeit cigarettes at the port.

The container was confiscated on March 3 after a tip-off that, instead of toys, it continued cigarettes.

Following a search by customs officials, 26 of the 802 boxes in the container were found to contain the registered cargo of children’s toys. The remainder contained counterfeit top brand cigarettes worth more than £300,000.

Police said the specific container had come from the Greek port of Piraeus and was probably destined for Lebanon.

There was no name for the collector of the container.

The cigarettes were confiscated and sent to the state laboratory for tests, where it was established they were counterfeits.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, German police arrived on the island yesterday to extradite a Czech national wanted in Germany on suspicion of trafficking in illegal cigarettes to Germany and the Czech Republic.

Richard Hulnsky is suspected of involvement in the export of some 36 containers full of cigarettes worth £17 million between September 1995 and September 1996.

He was arrested in Larnaca in September 1998 with the help of Interpol and German police and his extradition was approved last month.

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