THE POLICE spokesman yesterday declined to comment on reports that the drug squad (YKAN) had in fact imported the 12 kilos of cannabis that went missing during a controlled sting in September, and the police chief was fully aware of it.
Police Spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said no statements would be made until the Attorney-general returned the file with his advice.
The issue was brought back into the spotlight by Politis, which yesterday claimed to have obtained documents on the internal investigation.
The probe was ordered after YKAN was publicly ridiculed at the time for losing 12 kilos of cannabis, when a planned sting in Aradippou went spectacularly wrong.
Even though YKAN had the drugs under full observation since they arrived from Holland, the officers somehow managed to be outsmarted in a car chase that resulted in the drug dealers getting away and police to admit that they had disappeared without a trace.
Rumours that YKAN had in fact imported the drugs for a controlled operation – in the full knowledge of Police Chief Michalis Papageorgiou – were strongly denied by the police.
But according to Politis, the report into the matter proves beyond doubt that the sting had been planned, that Papageorgiou and the rest of the force were fully informed on it, and that the Attorney-general’s advice had not been sought, as is the legal procedure for controlled stings.
The report in question is currently in the hands of AG Petros Clerides, who is soon expected to reach a conclusion. Meanwhile, DISY MP Ioans Nicolaou yesterday said the investigation into the bungled operation had been carried out by the wrong man, and that it had been instigated for reasons other than finding those responsible for its failure.
“If the sting – as the one in Aradippou was named – where the 12 kilos were lost was indeed a fiasco, imagine what a bigger fiasco the investigation is, when the one who carried it out – who used to be the Deputy Chief of Operations – is now the head of YKAN?” said Nicolaou.
He added that the regulations were clear: “He who should have carried out the investigation should have been someone who wasn’t implicated or at least didn’t appear to be implicated or aware of this operation.”
