Police nab American wanted for drug trafficking

Police on Thursday nabbed a US national wanted on an international arrest warrant for drug trafficking and who had been reportedly laying low here since last September.

The suspect, 35, is wanted by US authorities on suspicion of trafficking 1000kg of marijuana and 5kg of cocaine.

The man was reportedly apprehended in an apartment in the Yermasoyia area of Limassol. During the raid, police found a fake Guatemalan passport in his name.

He was arrested for forgery, criminal impersonation, circulating forged documents and obtaining documents under false pretences.

Under questioning the man has admitted to the forgery offences. He is set to appear before a judge on Friday for his remand hearing.

The man reportedly came to Cyprus as a tourist in September 2015. Using the false documentation, he subsequently obtained a temporary residency visa, which has since expired.

With the same documentation he was able to rent an apartment.

It’s understood US authorities had alerted their Cypriot counterparts that the man may have been using a fake name and passport.

He is wanted in the United States for drug trafficking as well as for money laundering. An international warrant for his arrest was issued in February this year.

It’s understood that police here will be referring the case to the attorney-general’s office who will decide whether to have the suspect extradited back to the United States.

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.