THREE Romanian brothers and a Bulgarian national were remanded yesterday after being arrested on Friday night in connection to the theft of valuable luxury goods from a Cyprus Airways air cargo warehouse at the old Larnaca Airport.
The value of the stolen goods has not yet been calculated as police believe the gang has been operational for as long as three years.
The four suspects were remanded for eight days by the Larnaca District Court. All four are employed at a private firm that is responsible for transferring the valuables between the Cyprus Airways warehouses and a storage facility at the old airport.
Police spokesman Christos Andreou said: “Staff members of a private company which transported goods to and from the Ccrgo warehouses of our national carrier were arrested and interrogated. From investigations we believe that the police will arrest other suspects.”
Police Inspector Christodoulos Konsolos said: “Another four foreign nationals are due to be interrogated while police will hold interviews with an additional 50 Cyprus Airways employees who we believe could be connected to the case.” Konsolos added that he believed that many employees have been involved in the last three years.
Cyprus Airways Spokesman Kyriakos Kyriacou said yesterday that a senior employee at the airline contacted management on Friday after uncovering the case.
Kyriacou said the employee suspected foul play when he discovered that three watches valued at € 180 each were missing from a cargo box, the cargo box appeared be damaged.
After investigations the watch was allegedly found at the home of one of the Romanians, hidden behind his refrigerator. He then allegedly named his two brothers and a Bulgarian man as accomplices.
After searching the other suspects’ homes, police found the other two watches hidden in a sofa, and the other in another suspect’s toilet. After further searches laptops, cameras, sunglasses, watches and bracelets were also found in two of the suspect’s bedrooms, police said. Foreign currency was also found in the house of one suspect who allegedly told officers: “I found it on the floor of a Cyprus Airways plane and took it.”
The four suspects were not represented by lawyers at yesterday’s hearing, and upon hearing the court’s decision one of the Romanians said: “Can you not release my brother? These all belong to our other brother who is currently out of the country.”
