Drugs and weapons most frequent findings in road policing

Possession of drugs, weapons and explosives by drivers are among the most frequent findings during road policing, according to new data.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides revealed on Sunday that in total, there were 425 such cases in 2015 and 441 in 2016, a slight increase of around 3.5%.

Road policing is in force since 2013. Angelides said it was based on the notion that drivers could be engaged in criminal activity other than traffic offences.

Commenting on the small increase in cases last year, Angelides said this might have been due to more effective checks and added that police were studying the data to improve policing and crime prevention.

In 2015 there were 80 drug cases resulting from traffic stops, compared to 79 in 2016. There there were 48 cases of illegal possession of arms, explosives or suspicious tools related to burglaries in 2015. This was down to 41 in 2016.

In five cases in 2015 and 13 cases in 2016, police found stolen goods in cars, and in 25 cases, in 2015 they found a wanted or missing persons in a car compared with 48 such cases in 2016.

Most of the 2016 cases were recorded in Limassol district, while the Larnaca district had the highest number in 2015.

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