Loan-shark brothers forced victim to sell drugs outside a school

The Limassol criminal court on Wednesday sentenced two brothers aged 29 and 26 to five and six years in prison respectively after being found guilty among other things of forcing a man to sell drugs outside a school because he was unable to repay a loan they had given him.

They were found guilty of usury, extortion, kidnapping, possession, and supply of drugs, illegal possession of firearms and explosives, money laundering and assault.

They were arrested in September 2018 after a 27-year-old man reported to the police that he was being forced by the two brothers to sell drugs because he was unable to repay a €9,000 loan he had taken from them.

The man told police he had been attacked and threatened by them while they also threatened members of his family forcing him to sell cannabis outside a school while he was being watched by them through cameras.

Following a search in their premises, officers found drugs, a large amount of money, a gun, a full 9mm cartridge, a military rifle magazine, and a closed-circuit surveillance system.

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