Drug squad crackdown on Green Line trade

THE Drug Squad have stepped up controls at checkpoints, acting on information that Turkish Cypriot traffickers are increasingly pushing narcotics to the south.

Police have been on heightened alert since April 2003, when restrictions on movement were partially lifted, allowing people from both sides of the island to cross over. But a spate of recent incidents involving Turkish Cypriot drug pushers has caused police to beef up security at the various checkpoints.

Drug Squad officers have been assigned to checkpoints, two of which (at the Ledra Palace and Ayios Dometios) have also been equipped with devices that detect narcotics substances. In addition, police have stepped up surveillance so as to apprehend pushers trying to contact Greek Cypriot buyers.

Recently a Turkish Cypriot man passing through the Ledra Palace checkpoint was caught with 200g of heroin in his possession. The narcotics had been detected at the checkpoint, but police let the man pass through and put a tail on him.

According to police, dealers in the south prefer not to smuggle drugs from abroad, since buying from Turkish Cypriot pushers involves far lesser risk.

Since last April, there have been nine cases of drug smuggling from the north, involving seven Turkish Cypriots and two Greeks Cypriots.

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