Would-be dealers brought cannabis from Holland

HOLLAND has been singled out as the country from which large quantities of drugs were imported recently to Cyprus, Larnaca Criminal Court heard yesterday.

The conclusion was reached following two serious drug-related cases, where it emerged that almost 34kg of cannabis seized at Larnaca airport came from Holland.

The first case saw 24-year-old Dutch waiter Sabri Ahayar and Italian barman Mauricio Di Pari, 33, deny four charges of importing 13 kilos 834 grams of cannabis, which were found in their possession at Larnaca Airport last May.

Ahayar and Di Pari denied conspiring in Holland and Cyprus to import the drug with intent to supply, so the case was postponed until September 11.

The suspects will remain under custody until the hearing.

In the second case, 24-year-old Stelios Constantinou and 36-year-old Nicolaos Digbasanis, both Limassol residents, requested a postponement of the court hearing they were facing for importing 20 kilos of cannabis from Holland.

They too were caught last May at Larnaca Airport.

Constantinou is facing the extra charge of possessing 93 grams of cocaine and 29 grams cannabis, which were found in the suspect’s car parked at the airport.

Constantinou had travelled to Amsterdam on May 18 without a suitcase and returned the next day, this time with luggage.

This triggered the suspicion of the Drug Squad, which immediately stopped him to check his suitcase.

Digbasanis was arrested the following day as he too returned to Larnaca from Amsterdam.
Their case will be heard on June 28.

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