THREE Larnaca men remanded in custody last week in connection with the burglary of a house in Nicosia are to be kept in for a further eight days, after it emerged that they were suspected of carrying out five further burglaries.
Evangelos Evangelou, Tasos Anastasiou and Costas Iacovou are accused of carrying out a series of ‘safe burglaries’, beginning last November, before they were finally caught by police.
In the first incident, they supposedly stole a safe containing watches, cash and jewellery worth £100,000 from a house in Ayios Andreas, in Nicosia.
They then apparently stole £37,000 worth of goods when they took a safe from a Limassol house in February, along with 200 bullets from a G3 gun. They made their getaway in the victim’s car.
The third incident took place on April 11 when the three suspects allegedly burgled two houses in Frenaros, stealing safes containing £23,000 and £24,000 respectively.
They are also connected with a burglary on the Dizzy shop in Larnaca on June 8.
Their final act is said to have occurred a few days later when they lifted an 80-kilo safe from a cupboard in a house in Nicosia, which contained £5,000 worth of foreign currency, jewellery and other valuables.
On top of that, the perpetrators, who broke into the Strovolos house through the aluminium veranda door, stole various statuettes made of ivory and brass.
All the stolen goods were valued at £100,000
On the scene, police found a number of clues – pieces of construction steel and shoeprints – which were being examined by the police lab.
The three men, all from Larnaca, were originally arrested after two of them were named by an informant.
The informant told police that Evangelou and Anastasiou, both 35, had told him that they carried out the burglary with the help of a third person.
On the same day, the drug squad raided the home of the third suspect, Iacovou, 40, but instead of drugs they discovered part of the loot.
After determining that the valuables were the product of the burglary, police arrested Iacovou who claimed Evangelou had brought the loot over.
Present at the scene was Evangelou, who was immediately arrested.
At his home, police found four pairs of trainers, one of which initially matched the shoeprints found at the scene.
Anastasiou was arrested in Larnaca on the same day and has since confessed.
Iacovou has also admitted to committing all the burglaries and has implicated Evangelou and Anastasiou.
Evangelou’s brother and girlfriend have also been arrested, as it is claimed Evangelou gave them jewellery on three separate occasions, which they then sold to relatives in Limassol who own a jewellers. They have also been arrested.
Police have found some of the safes abandoned all around the island and are searching for one other person who is also believed to be involved.
No date has yet been set for a trial.
