Filenews 28 April 2023
Police arrested a 28-year-old man yesterday on the basis of a court warrant, as part of an investigation into a case of residential burglary and theft.
The relevant complaint was made on 9/4/2023 at the ICF Paphos, by a female resident of Paphos, that between the hours of 15:40 – 17:30, of the same day, unknown persons broke into her residence in Paphos and stole a gold chain, as well as her car.
An investigation into the case revealed testimony against the 28-year-old, who was arrested yesterday on the basis of a court warrant and taken into custody to facilitate interrogations.
The ICF Pafos continues the examinations.
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Mystery covers the complaint of two minors that they were kidnapped by a stranger for three hours for ransom. The police are seriously investigating the case and trying to clarify what exactly is behind the complaint, which was filed a week ago.
According to information provided by "F", on April 20, 2023, two minors, a 16-year-old and a 14-year-old from an area of Nicosia, accompanied by their guardians, filed a complaint around 9:00 p.m. at the ICF of Nicosia, claiming that they were abducted by an unknown man.
According to the complaint, an hour earlier, the minors were in a park in their area at the time of the abduction, when they were approached by a foreigner who, after tying them up, illegally detained them between the hours of 5-8 p.m. The minors gave a description of the person in question to the Police, while they reported that during their detention, the stranger made obscene gestures against the minor. They said he was a foreigner, about 1.70 meters tall, who was wearing a tracksuit with Arabic letters, while his hair was long black.
According to their allegations, the unknown man took their mobile phones and demanded that their families give him €25,000 each separately, otherwise, as they claimed, he would take them to Famagusta district and kill them.
According to their allegations, the stranger then let them leave around 8:00 p.m. but kept their cell phones, telling them that if they wanted them, they would meet the next day and pay him 1000 euros each, so that he could return them to them. The next day, an operation was set up with undercover police officers in the area, where the minors went supposedly to meet the unknown man and collect their cell phones, but he did not show up.
The examinations of the ICF Nicosia continue to investigate the allegations of the minors, while the park is patrolled daily by police officers, in an effort to locate the suspect in case he appears again. Efforts are also being made to trace their mobile phones through providers, to no avail so far.
The examinations continue and it is not excluded that if necessary, the two minors will be called for further evidence.
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Search operations at shops in Nicosia, where products of controlled pharmaceutical and narcotic substances were found and seized, were carried out by members of the Police, in cooperation with officials of the Ministry of Health.
According to the police, the coordinated search operations were carried out over the last two days, Wednesday and Thursday, April 26-27, at two stores in the areas of Latsia and Nicosia, pursuant to judicial search warrants obtained on the basis of evidence of illegal trade in controlled pharmaceutical products for which there is no marketing authorisation. Members of the Intellectual Property Theft and Illegal Betting Branch, the Cybercrime Subdivision, the Police Headquarters, members of the Anti-Narcotics Service – YKAN, and officers of the Pharmaceutical and Health Services of the Ministry of Health participated in the investigations.
At the first store, 91 packages of products believed to contain cannabidiol – CBD, 400 packages of products believed to contain tetrahydrocannabinol – THC, and 40 packages believed to contain hexahydrocannabinol – HHC were found and seized for further examination. Six of the packages of THC-containing products were confiscated by health officials for testing under their authority.
A further 262 packages of products believed to contain cannabidiol – CBD, as well as another 285 packages of products believed to contain tetrahydrocannabinol – THC and hexahydrocannabinol – HHC, were found at the second store and also seized for testing purposes. 26 of the THC and HHC packages were confiscated by Health Service officials for testing as part of their responsibilities.
It is recalled that an announcement* by the Pharmaceutical Services, in June, 2022, states that products containing cannabidiol – CBD are classified as pharmaceutical products and their marketing requires the issuance of a marketing authorization. Any commercial activity, involving wholesale distribution and sale to the public, without the required licenses, is prohibited.
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Pafos Live
Searches were carried out today at the offices of the TFT Pafos by members of the ICF Headquarters.
A number of documents related to the case under investigation of the issuance of irregular driving licenses and interference with the department's computer system were received from the offices.
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The Pafos District Court issued on Wednesday, at the request of the Police, a decree suspending the operation of premises in which gambling and similar offences were committed, pending the trial of the case.
According to the Spokesperson of the Pafos Police Authority and Head of the Pafos ICF, Michalis Nicolaou, members of the Pafos Crime Prevention Unit had carried out an operation, on the evening of January 27, as part of the ongoing campaign of the Police to crack down on gambling, at a café in Emba, where it was found that gambling was taking place.
The Court then ordered on Wednesday the suspension of the operation of the premises.
Mr. Nicolaou noted that coordinated police operations and raids on premises to combat the phenomenon of gambling continue at regular intervals.
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