Customs seize thousands of smuggled cigarettes

Customs authorities on Wednesday seized thousands of illicit cigarettes and large quantities of tobacco in two separate cases in Nicosia and Paphos.

A statement from the customs department said its officers together with police raided two dwellings at a Nicosia village on Wednesday morning belonging to the same man.

Their search uncovered 6.8 kilogrammes of rolling tobacco and 33,140 cigarettes on which taxes, around €7,225, had not been paid to the state.

The owner was arrested and is expected to be brought before a court on Thursday.

A few hours later, customs officers at Paphos airport searched the luggage of a female passenger from Jordan and found five kilogrammes of hookah tobacco and 400 cigarettes, which she had failed to declare.

The woman was arrested and the tobacco was seized. She settled out of court by paying a €1,300 fine and was released.

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