Two held after cannabis find

TWO men were yesterday remanded in custody for five days by the district court in Larnaca, suspected of drug possession, use, and trafficking. A third man was released for lack of evidence.

Leonidas Demetriou, 22, from Larnaca, and 25-year-old Costas Pashali, 25, from Nicosia, were arrested after police allegedly found 15 grams of cannabis in their possession.

Investigator Vassos Tandis told the court that police on Friday stopped the cars of Demetriou and another man for a check.

Police frisked both men and found 15 grams of what is thought to be cannabis wrapped in foil on Demetriou, who claimed the drug was for his own use.

Demetriou later told police he bought the drug for £70 from Pashali, and that the three of them had smoked cannabis earlier at Pashali’s home.

Police then searched Pashali’s home and found two smoked joints, which he admitted he had smoked with the other suspects. Pashali denied being the cannabis provider, however.

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.