Police seize 41 illegal immigrants

POLICE ARRESTED 41 illegal immigrants believed to have entered the government-controlled areas from the occupied north in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Acting on a tip off, police employed various units, including the Crime Prevention Unit and Rapid Reaction Force (MMAD), to carry out a sting operation between midnight and 2am yesterday, which led to the arrest of 39 immigrants near the Roccas Bastion in old Nicosia. A further two illegal immigrants were arrested near the American Embassy at around 4.15am.

The 41 immigrants were taken to the police holding cells at the Nicosia Central Prison, where they will be detained until their deportation. Police believe the illegal immigrants paid around $2,000 each to come by boat from Syria to the north and then into the free areas.

According to state broadcaster, CyBC, police arrested 36 Syrians, four Kurds and a Lebanese man. Ten of the detainees are repeat offenders and will likely be taken to court rather than deported.

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.