Drug ring cracked open in sting

THE DRUG SQUAD yesterday uncovered a massive drugs ring in a sting that has been in operation for the past few weeks.

Three drugs barons, two Greek Cypriots and a Turkish Cypriot, were yesterday arrested and kept in custody, while police were also searching for another Turkish Cypriot, believed to be a big heroin dealer.

Police officers are already aware of his personal details and were last night searching the checkpoints for him.

The Drug Squad received a tip-off a few weeks back that many heroin users used to regularly visit Nicosia village of Dhali to get their drugs.

The Squad put a number of people under surveillance and yesterday afternoon, one of whom was a 32-year-old Cypriot man.

Police followed the man as he left his home yesterday afternoon and went to an open area in Lymbia, where he met a 50-year-old who he gave 50 grams of heroin. As they attempted to leave, Drug Squad members intervened, trying to block off the road of the two suspects. They tried to escape but ended up colliding together. The two men were arrested on the spot.

At the same time at the 32-year-old’s home, which was still under observation, a taxi pulled up and two Turkish Cypriots stepped out. Drug Squad members stopped them to be searched.

“Unfortunately, one of the two managed to escape,” Avraam Charalambous, deputy commander of the Drug Squad, explained. “Investigations to locate him continue. The other, a 32-year-old Turkish Cypriot man, was arrested and searched, whereby 250g of heroin were found in his underpants.”

A search of the 32-year-old Greek Cypriot’s home followed, where officers found another 65g of heroin and €1,500.

“We are talking about three big heroin traffickers that have been occupying us for a long time,” said Charalambous. “I would like to add that the heroin came from the occupied areas.”

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.