Children in care as parents arrested in drugs raid

THREE young children were taken into care yesterday when their parents were arrested for allegedly cultivating 100 cannabis plants in Nea Dimata village in Paphos.

The parents, both British passport holders originally from Pakistan, were remanded in police custody for eight days yesterday after the cannabis plants were allegedly discovered at their home.

According to police, more than 100 plants were being cultivated by the husband and wife team in a greenhouse in their garden. The greenhouse was found in an area surrounded by barbed wire and was well camouflaged so that it couldn’t be seen from the road.

The couple, aged 35 and 22, had made the greenhouse themselves, complete with all the paraphernalia needed to aid the development of the plants, including a special irrigation system, police said.

Officers discovered 100 cannabis plants measuring around 30-35cm in height inside the greenhouse. In addition, one of the bedrooms of the family home had been modified to include a special lighting and air extracting system for the illegal plants, police said.

A Paphos drugs squad (YKAN) officer told the Cyprus Mail: “YKAN Paphos acted on information received and we visited the property at around 6.30pm on Thursday. The owners of the house were shocked at our presence and their three young children aged one, three and four were handed over to welfare officers.”

He added: “It appears as if the plants were being grown inside the special room inside the house before being transferred outside, where the cannabis would grow further,” the officer added.

He said the couple were suspected not only of possession but also of trafficking the drug.

In addition, police found various electrical items, a large number of PCs, mobile phones, numerous car keys and car number plates, as well as a set of plates with a Turkish Cypriot registration number on the property.

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