Filenews 21 March 2023
The quantities of firecrackers detected and seized by the Police soared this year compared to the previous three years, a fact that is also attributed to the coronavirus pandemic where due to restrictions imports had stopped, but also to the import now of huge lots for a large profit.
According to police data, this year from the beginning of the year until today, 407,000 firecrackers have been seized, compared to a total of 128,000 detected in the previous three years. As the police spokesman, Christos Andreou, told "F", during the first three months of 2023, 407,000 firecrackers and pyrotechnic articles were detected, while in 2020, 2021 and 2022, a total of 128,000 firecrackers were detected. These figures effortlessly show that the quantities have tripled this year compared to the previous three years combined. It is noted that about 400,000 firecrackers were detected in the last week and will be immediately destroyed by members of the Police's Pyrotechnicians Branch, at the firing range in Analyontas.
The Police estimate that some people decided to import large quantities of firecrackers in order to be channelled in view of the Easter holidays, however, their plans were spoiled when within five days Police identified 400,000 in two different cases. It is worth mentioning that in the possession of the six persons arrested in the two cases, a total of more than €17,000 was found, which indicates the 'value' with the firecrackers and at the same time endanger the physical integrity of the citizens. As pointed out by the Police, the crackers found are of great power and dangerous.
According to Mr. Andreou, the Police are intensifying their efforts to identify and arrest persons who illegally import, possess, sell, manufacture or use firecrackers or any other dangerous material that can be used to make firecrackers.
According to law enforcement data, the largest quantities of firecrackers are imported into Cyprus from abroad. Now, the Police, according to their spokesman, are looking for information on where exactly the firecrackers would end up.
In order to stop the introduction and distribution of thousands of firecrackers in the hands of mainly young people, the Police every year at this time, intensify their checks, but also begin a campaign to inform and raise awareness among young people, mainly, about the dangers of this bloody custom. As Mr. Andreou added, patrols are being intensified in areas where young people have already begun to gather and are setting up lampreys, causing uproar by throwing firecrackers. The aim is to prevent phenomena with uncontrolled lampreys and injuries from firecrackers. At the same time, patrols have increased in areas from which it has been observed that firecrackers are transferred from the occupied to the free areas, such as the barricades and the mixed village of Pyla.
In a forest in Paphos, in a container in Limassol
The first large batch of firecrackers was found on Sunday, March 12 in a wooded area in Paphos, during which 96,140 firecrackers were seized. Members of the Anti-Narcotics Service went for drugs and spotted in a wooded area in Paphos, three men unloading boxes from two cars. Examinations that followed found 34 cardboard boxes, containing 10,018 firecrackers, in the first car in which a 960-year-old man had gone to the area. In the second car, in which a 31-year-old driver and a 23-year-old had gone to the area, another 52 boxes were found, which contained 77,180 firecrackers. In the possession of the 34-year-old, a shoulder bag containing more than €3,000 was found, for which he did not give a satisfactory explanation for its origin.
In a second case, last Thursday the largest batch of crackers was detected, this time in Limassol. Again, members of YKAN, placed under discreet surveillance a specific warehouse of an import and transport company in Limassol. A car leaving the warehouse was stopped by members of the YKAN where during the check it was found that the driver of the car was a 26-year-old while two other persons aged 23 years, all residents of the Nicosia district, were passengers. During the investigation that followed, various documents related to the import of the goods through this company were found inside the vehicle, while in the possession of the 26-year-old the amount of €2,170 was found, while in the possession of one of the 23-year-olds, the amount of money of €12,230 as well as 5,235 Turkish pounds was found. A search of the warehouse found a total of 303,000 firecrackers and received them for further examinations.
The Police will intensify their efforts during the Holy Week services with police patrols, mainly outside the holy temples, culminating in the liturgy and procession of the Epitaph and on the evening of the Resurrection, where most of the temples in the cities and the countryside will be policed.
