Man held for dealing cocaine

A MAN is in police custody after selling 300 grams of cocaine to an undercover police officer in Nicosia on Monday night.

The 25-year-old suspect, a Syrian who is married to a Cypriot and lives in Strovolos, was yesterday remanded in police custody for seven days and is currently under investigation for illegal possession of drugs with intent to sell.

According to the investigator in the case, the suspect had arranged a meeting with an officer of the Drug Squad (YKAN), who was working undercover.

The Syrian, who has so far denied any wrongdoing, was placed under arrest as soon as the officer paid him the cash sum of £10,800 for the drugs.

YKAN officers had hidden nearby in case the suspect tried to escape arrest.

The investigator told the court yesterday that YKAN had recently received information that the 25-year-old had travelled to Lebanon just a few days before, buying one kilo of cocaine with the intention of smuggling it back to Cyprus to sell.

Police are currently on the lookout for two men believed to be connected to the suspect, one Cypriot and a Palestinian man.

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.