SIX INDIAN men and a woman were yesterday remanded in custody for eight days after police found over 30 opium poppy plants growing in their garden.
The seven were arrested on Thursday after Morphou district Drug Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU) officers in co-operation with Morphou district police raided their residence in Katidata village.
During a search of the premises, investigators found 33 Papaver somniferum plants measuring 35 to 70cm tall planted in a fenced garden in the house’s backyard. DLEU officers also found 428 Papaver somniferum plant heads in a metal container not far from the plants.
The court heard the plant heads had been cut vertically with a sharp object to extract the resin.
All the items had been sent for forensic analysis, a DLEU officer told the court.
The suspects were arrested for further questioning on charges of illegal possession of Papaver somniferum plants, illegal possession of opium plants with intent to supply, illegal possession of a Class A narcotic and illegal possession of a Class A narcotic with intent to supply. During investigations, police also discovered suspects five, six and seven were illegal immigrants.
The seven suspects, who vary in age from 31 to 21, stood huddled around their Indian court interpreter as the proceedings were translated from Greek to English and then into their dialect.
The group appeared a bit lost and confused as they continued to listen to the DLEU officer recounting Thursday’s events through their interpreter. One or two glanced around the courtroom, apparently unsure of how things would go.
The policeman told the court two of the suspects had said the plants belonged to a fellow countryman who left the house about a month ago. They also claimed to have lost all contact with this individual, the officer said.
The court heard investigators needed to take at least 20 more statements including the remaining suspects, residents of neighbouring houses and the house’s landlord. The officer said they also needed to try and track down the man the two suspects claimed had sowed the plants.
Nicosia District Judge Michalis Ambizas asked the seven if they had understood the proceedings and if they had anything to add. One by one they said they had no involvement with the case. One or two said they had only recently moved into the premises and didn’t know anything.
The 21-year-old female suspect, who is also an illegal immigrant, said she had only just arrived. Her voice was barely a whisper as she passed on her remarks to the judge through the interpreter.
Ambizas said there was justifiable cause to hold the seven for eight days during which time police would investigate the case to determine whether to go ahead with their prosecution or to release them.
The opium poppy is the type of poppy from which opium and many refined opiates, including heroin, morphine, thebaine, codeine, papaverine and noscapine, are extracted. The binomial name means, loosely, the “sleep-bringing poppy”, referring to its narcotic properties.
