Suspect gun smugglers caught

TWO Turkish Cypriots were arrested in the Athienou area last night on suspicion of smuggling guns from the north.

Police said 41-year-old butcher Osman Kontoz and 33-year-old shepherd Mustafa Veli, both from occupied Louroudjina, were caught crossing from the north with a loaded pistol and a number of bullets at about 9.10pm. According to police, on October 18 Kontoz and Veli had sold a pistol to two undercover policemen posing as arms buyers.

The suspects are expected in court today. When apprehended, they apparently said to police: “We’re poor, this is our work.”

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.