A MAN suspected of smuggling fish

A MAN suspected of smuggling 76 kilos of fish from the north told police he had found the fresh fish at a rubbish dump, the Larnaca District Court heard yesterday.

Ormidhia fisherman Evangelos Costa, 40, was arrested at Pyla on Tuesday after allegedly receiving 76 kilos of fish in polystyrene containers from a Turkish Cypriot man.

Case investigator Andreas Mougis told the court that police believed the fish had been caught off the occupied areas and was being smuggled through the buffer zone village for sale at markets in the free areas.

“When the suspect was stopped by police and asked where he had got the fish he said he had gone to the Pyla rubbish dump to pick capers and had found the fish in the polystyrene containers,” Mougis told the court.

Mougis said police had seen Costa receiving the fish from a Turkish Cypriot, whom he described as a “well-known” smuggler.

The court remanded Costa in custody for two days.

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