Man fined €6,000 for possession of undeclared tobacco

A 23-year-old has been fined over €6,000, after police found a large number undeclared tobacco products in his possession, authorities said on Saturday.

According to police, at 7pm on Friday, officers received a tip-off that the permanent resident of Paphos had undeclared cigarettes in his car.

Police stopped the vehicle on Nikolaos Nikolaides Street.  During a search, they said they found 43 boxes of cigarettes, plus 32 boxes of rolling tobacco and shisha tobacco.

Officers also found €930 in the car, and during a pat down they found €1,250 on the man’s person, they said.

The suspect was held in custody on Friday night, the items seized and the car impounded, and a customs agent was informed.

He issued a fine of €6,000 for the undeclared items, and €500 fine to have the vehicle returned to the owner after which the 23-year-old was released.

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.