Remand after wanted man stopped at airport

The Larnaca District court on Tuesday ordered the eight-day remand of a 59-year-old man from Limassol wanted for a year in connection to drugs trafficking.

The man was arrested on Monday at Paphos airport as he was about to depart from Cyprus in order to avoid arrest.

The 59-year-old was wanted by police since April, 2014 in connection with a case of smuggling, possession and intent to sell 168 grams of cocaine, which had been found on a Romanian woman arriving at Larnaca airport.

Following her arrest, the Romanian told police that the man and other individuals linked to him had forced her to smuggle cocaine into Cyprus on a number of previous occasions.

Since then, the 59-year-old had been in hiding, even residing in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus to escape the authorities.

On Tuesday he was remanded in connection with a case of conspiracy to commit a felony, smuggling, possession and intent to sell drugs.

The Larnaca drug squad continues to investigate the case.

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.