Trafficking ring uncovered

Police say illegals were being transported to the Republic from the occupied areas
THE police are believed to have uncovered a trafficking ring that was transporting illegal immigrants from the occupied areas to the south.

Aliens and Immigration unit commander Savvas Theophanous yesterday announced that 19 people had been arrested on Thursday night near the Bata roundabout in Kaimakli; 14 were illegal immigrants and five were believed to be at the centre of a trafficking ring of immigrants who worked in the occupied areas.

According to the police, two of the suspected traffickers are Turkish Cypriot, two Jordanian, while the nationality of the fifth suspect has not been made known.
Of the illegal immigrants, 12 were Syrian and two were from Lebanon.
“Upon receiving information about the trafficking of illegal immigrants, the Aliens and Immigration Unit, in cooperation with Nicosia Police Headquarters, at around midnight last night in the Kaimakli area, managed to smash another ring of immigrant trafficking, arresting five suspicious persons as traffickers as well as 14 illegal immigrants who entered the Republic through the occupied areas,” Theophanous said.
Last month, Deputy Chief of Police Michalis Papageorgiou had said that the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants come from the north and admitted that it was difficult to monitor movements along the 180km-long ceasefire line.

According to figures presented at the time, 7,587 illegal immigrants had been apprehended in 2005, 5,189 of whom had crossed over from the north.
In 2006, 6,046 illegal immigrants were caught, 3,735 having crossed over from the north, while the number of illegal immigrants nabbed in 2007 reached 7,770 with 5,736 of them entering from the occupied areas.

Until February 2008, 998 illegal immigrants had been caught, with 682 entering the free areas from the north.

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