CUSTOMS police were yesterday trying to get onto the trail of what they believe is a smuggling ring moving cigarettes from the occupied areas to Britain via the government-controlled areas.
Police suspect five British tourists arrested on Saturday for allegedly trying to smuggle almost 400 boxes of cigarettes through Larnaca airport may be part of a larger illegal operation.
The five suspects — three men aged 46, 23 and 31 and two women aged 37 and 28 – were on Sunday remanded in custody for eight days by the Larnaca District Court.
The court heard from customs police officer Niki Hadjiyianni that local authorities were working with Interpol and British authorities to try to get to the bottom of the suspected smuggling operation.
The five suspects were picked up at Larnaca airport on Saturday morning, just before boarding a flight to London. A customs check on their eight suitcases revealed 391 boxes of cigarettes, the court heard.
Hadjiyianni said the suspect cigarettes did not bear the standard Cyprus Health Ministry warning, suggesting they were contraband cigarettes made in the north.
The court also heard that the five Britons had admitted to police that this had not been the first time they had carried large quantities of cigarettes in their luggage when leaving the island. They apparently said they had done the same in June and had not been checked or stopped by anyone.
Recent reports in the British press have suggested Cyprus is a major transit point for smuggled cigarettes.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
