Customs probe mystery container

CUSTOMS are investigating the arrival of an unclaimed storage container at Limassol port containing paintings, furniture and other artefacts of considerable vast value.

Chief Customs and Excise Officer Chrysostomos Hadjichristodoulou said yesterday that the 40-foot tall container, which arrived from Syria and was meant to go to Egypt, had been offloaded at Limassol port and stored in the public warehouse. Officials opened the box after a period of 45 days had elapsed, the time limit set by the communal code for the customs clearance of merchandise.

Hadjichristodoulou added that a shipping company, which could not be identified at this stage of investigations, had requested that the container’s contents be repackaged into two smaller 20-foot ones, and then be sent off to Egypt.

According to the customs’ official, the investigations at this stage are centred on the container’s origin and the value of its contents.

Customs’ suspicions were raised by the nature of the container.

“From initial examinations, it emerged that the container was filled with paintings, ornaments, antiques, various types of furniture and other items, which are packaged in boxes, some of them bearing the labels of auction houses Sotheby’s and Christies”, said Hadjichristodoulou.
According to the police, it appears that the owner of the mysterious container is of Arabic decent.

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