Filenews 13 October 2021 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The search carried out by specialized members of the Police and other state agencies, under the guidance of ten FBI agents, on an aircraft stationed in a warehouse at Paphos Airport, was all-day and thorough.
The aircraft was allegedly used to transport weapons to Libya, in violation of the arms embargo on the country, which is why the United Nations is conducting an investigation with the help of FBI experts. Information from "F" reports that yesterday morning, the 10 agents who came for the purpose of investigating the aircraft, along with experts from the Police, the Department of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Agriculture, etc., unsealed it and entered it, conducting extensive investigations that lasted until late in the afternoon.
According to the same information, a gunpowder sample was collected from the aircraft for examinations, the navigation system was removed, the papers that accompanied it were received and other extensive examinations were carried out. Also, as far as we are informed, minor modifications were recorded on the aircraft and photographed in order to be evaluated. These conversions may "say" a lot, they could be nothing, so they will be studied, while it is not excluded that the owner company will be asked to give explanations. The company is represented by legal advisors in Cyprus who closely monitored all developments.
All items will be transferred to Nicosia for analysis by experts, either in the laboratories of the Police Headquarters, or of Civil Aviation or elsewhere. Once analyzed, they will then be sent to America along with accompanying reports for inclusion in the FBI experts' report to be submitted to the United Nations Sanctions Committee, at the behest of which the investigation is being conducted.
It is noted that this particular plane, according to a United Nations report last March, seems to have arrived in Cyprus and specifically at Larnaka airport in 2019. It was then transferred to Paphos airport, where it was parked in a special warehouse which is rented.
Yesterday, the spokesman of the Police, Christos Andreou, said that there is a request for legal assistance from the authorities of the United States and the United Nations, which was executed yesterday by the investigators of the Cyprus Police in cooperation with other competent services and in the presence of the investigators of the US Authorities.
