POLICE are fighting a desperate battle to stop the flow of heroin from the occupied north, with two dramatic checkpoint arrests in less than 24 hours.
Four Greek Cypriot men aged between 25 and 35, all from Nicosia, were yesterday remanded in custody for eight days after being arrested at checkpoints in the capital in possession of heroin, police said. In a separate case, a 36-year-old Bulgarian man was arrested leaving Larnaca airport with more than 18kg of cannabis in his luggage.
Drug Squad Deputy Commander Avraam Charalambous yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that “the occupied areas are the main source of heroin – this is a fact. All three checkpoints in Nicosia are under surveillance after information in the last few days about large quantities of drugs being moved.”
Charalambous said that at 3pm on Monday, Drug Squad officers at the Ledra Street crossing spotted two men known to police acting suspiciously on their exit from the checkpoint, heading to the government-controlled area.
“Having been asked to stop for a search, they tried to escape by running back to the occupied areas.” They were stopped by members of YKAN and taken to the Ledra Street Police Station, where a search found 48 grams of heroin was in their possession.
Shortly after, at 5.30pm at the Ayios Dometios checkpoint, a car coming from the occupied areas, instead of following the designated lane that leads past customs officers, drove at high speed the wrong way down the one-way entrance lane to the checkpoint.
The car sped off towards Makedonitissa and despite repeated warnings from members of YKAN, it failed to stop. Charalambous said: “It sped through two consecutive red traffic lights, putting their own lives, those of the officers and the people on the road in danger. In the end, YKAN had to cause an accident at the Tymvos traffic lights in Makedonitissa to stop the car.”
The two men tried to escape on foot, but were stopped and arrested by members of the service. One hundred grams of heroin were found on one of the two men.
The third case involved a 36-year-old man from Bulgaria who arrived at Larnaca Airport from Amsterdam (via Athens) at 8.30pm and was caught in possession of 18 kilograms and 707 grams of dried cannabis plant matter. Charalambous said that “the movements of the man were judged by drug squad officers to be suspicious.”
“We let him pass through customs and we didn’t stop him, he got out of the airport, he had not come into contact with anyone, he got into a taxi, and then we stopped the taxi, and the customs authorities conducted a check in his luggage, finding a total of 16 packages weighing 18 kilograms and 707 grams.”
The packs were wrapped in nylon and were dipped in a brown liquid with a strong smell to avoid the detection of the sniffer dogs.
From the initial investigation, it seems that the Bulgarian has visited Cyprus before. The police are in the initial stage of investigations to determine whether the man is acting as a mule or whether he is a member of an organised ring.
Concerning the two heroin cases in Nicosia, Charalambous said that the four people arrested had had run-ins with the police before. “They are people who are known to us and seem to be drug dealers, especially in heroin, which they always smuggle from the occupied areas,” he said.
“In the last four months we have had five different cases of large quantities of heroin smuggled from the north. A total of ten people have been arrested and the cases are awaiting court judgement. These are brainless individuals that poison our children with their lethal substances.
“We are making a huge effort to control the checkpoints and the Green Line, but because the Green Line runs 180km it is physically impossible to conduct thorough checks,” Charalambous told the Cyprus Mail.
“Our unit works either by information, tip-offs, searches and tracking of suspects.
“The heroin issue is particularly worrying us because it is the worst case of drug,” Charalambous said.
