Pafos Live 31 January 2024
The Anti-Narcotics Agency has dealt another major blow to drug traffickers today. They arrested two foreigners who were acting as drug trafficking rings in Cyprus.
Assessing information gathered by members of YKAN, in cooperation with the customs authorities of Pafos airport, they intercepted the 28-year-old Bulgarian and his 20-year-old compatriot after their arrival. In their luggage after a search, 33kg of cannabis packed in nylon bags were found.
The two foreigners had arrived at Paphos airport from Athens. However, they had started their journey from Spain this time, as had happened three more times last year when similar quantities were detected in passengers arriving at Pafos airport.
In their first interrogation statement, they claimed that they did not know who would receive the drugs in Cyprus, while admitting that they had undertaken to transport the death shipment to the island for a monetary reward.
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Pafos Live 1 February 2024
In order to dismantle a criminal ring that allegedly facilitated illegal immigration and residence in the European Union through marriages of convenience, Europol organised an operation, codenamed "Operational Task Force Limassol". The operation was led by Cyprus, with the support of Latvia, Portugal and Eurojust.
The information received and evaluated in the context of the operation revealed that this ring, in addition to marriages of convenience, is allegedly involved in other illegal activities, such as money laundering, conspiracy to commit a felony, conspiracy to defraud, facilitation of illegal entry, transit and stay in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, participation in an illegal organisation, participation in and acceptance of a crime, forgery, circulation of a false document, fraudulent marriage and coercion of victims to perform marriages of convenience, in order to facilitate the illegal stay of third-country nationals in European Union countries.
The examinations also obtained testimony against a number of persons allegedly involved in a total of 133 marriages of convenience performed in Cyprus between women from Portugal and Latvia and men from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In the context of "OTF Limassol", on January 29, 2024, the day of joint action of the participants in the operation, the authorities of Cyprus, Latvia and Portugal, proceeded to conduct searches at premises and arrest a total of 15 persons, in order to facilitate investigations into the above offenses.
Thirteen people were identified and arrested in Cyprus, while one person was arrested in Latvia and one in Portugal. Four of those arrested are the main suspects in the case. These are two persons, aged 37 and 24, arrested in Cyprus and the two persons, aged 45 and 26, arrested abroad on the basis of European arrest warrants issued by the Cypriot authorities.
The 13 persons arrested in Cyprus were brought before the Larnaca District Court, which issued a detention order against them until February 7. For the other two arrested, the procedures for their extradition to Cyprus have already begun.
On the Cypriot side, the National Europol Unit, the ICF of Nicosia, the ICF of Larnaca, the Aliens and Immigration Service and the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus participated in the operation.
The whole operation was supported by Europol through the exchange of information, the coordination and financing of operational activities and the provision of direct operational support.
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Police arrested a 52-year-old man today to facilitate investigations into an ongoing case of illegal acquisition, possession, access to and distribution of child pornography.
The investigation into the case began after Europol reported that a user of an account on an online platform allegedly uploaded five video files of child sexual abuse material.
From the examinations of the Cybercrime Branch, testimony was obtained against the 52-year-old, on the basis of which a judicial arrest warrant was issued against him.
The 52-year-old was arrested and taken into custody this morning, while during a search of his home, two mobile phones, a game console, a computer, two electronic tablets and an electronic data storage card were located and confiscated.
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Pafos Press
As part of their activity, the members of the cycling police of the Paphos district during January 2024 proceeded to 71 extrajudicial complaints, according to the Assistant Police Director of Paphos Operations Michalis Nikolaou.
In his statements to KYPE, Mr. Nikolaou said that in the same month they offered help to the public in 10 cases, carried out tasks of taking security measures during two events and provided help in four cases to other departments and services of ADE Paphos.
They also conducted a total of nine stops and searches of suspicious vehicles and persons, advised shop and other property owners on security measures for their property, and provided advice to locals and tourists where appropriate.
They also carried out checks in parking lots to prevent the breaking of car windows and theft from them.
The members of the bicycle policing of the Pafos Police Directorate continued during January 2024 to police the wider area of Geroskipou and Chlorakas, to police football matches and to patrol the commercial sector of the city on foot during the period mainly of New Year and Epiphany.
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Filenews 31 January 2024
The ICF of Limassol proceeded to the arrest, pursuant to a court warrant, of another 26-year-old person for a case of violence in the stadiums and specifically for the outrages that occurred inside the Alphamega stadium during the Apollon-AEL game.
This is one of those who posted the photo by the Police (Apollo fan).
His identification was made after examinations of the investigation team and data obtained with the help of the fan card. Under questioning, he confessed to committing the offences.
The 26-year-old is being investigated for the offences of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, rioting, obstruction of a match, illegal entry into a playing field, concealment of face and cancellation of a match.
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Filenews 1 February
The 44-year-old Syrian driver of the double-cab vehicle that killed the four victims of the fatality, which occurred 30 minutes after the New Year, at a photo-controlled intersection on the Limassol-Platres road, is expected to appear before the Limassol Permanent Assize Court of Limassol today.
During today's proceedings, the 44-year-old will be charged with the charges included in the heavy indictment and will be asked whether he admits or not. The defendant faces 10 charges, 4 of which are related to the offence of murder, which carries a life sentence. The other 4 relate to the offence of causing death by reckless, reckless or dangerous act or conduct in violation of Article 210 of the Penal Code and two counts of violation of red and orange traffic lights.
It is recalled that the 44-year-old during his detention and interrogated by the examiners of the Limassol Traffic Police, claimed that during the collision, he passed with a green light.
During the referral process, the police requested that the accused remain under trial until the start of the trial, basing her request on the risk of absconding. The court upheld the request, noting that the 44-year-old's ties were not strong enough to outweigh the seriousness of the offences and the likelihood of conviction. It was also noted that the detention time of 22 days was not excessive.
An important element in the case is the video document included in the witness material. The video captures the defendant's vehicle driving at increased speed, violating the red light and ramming the small red vehicle of 27-year-old Evanthia.
The quadruple fatality occurred 30 minutes after the New Year came at a light-controlled intersection on the Limassol-Platres road. The victims were the two children of the Georgiou family, the eldest daughter Evanthia, 27 years old, and the young son, Nicholas, 17 years old. With them, their grandparents, Nikolas Zavros and grandmother Vathoulla, 72 and 74 years old respectively. One month after the unspeakable family tragedy, the pain remains unbearable for relatives and friends of the victims, and especially for the mother of two children and daughter of the elderly, who within minutes lost her little angels and her parents.
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The Limassol District Court will hear the fatal traffic accident that occurred on 31/12/2022 on the Akrotiri – Kolossi road, a few hours before the New Year, where 25-year-old Marilena Constantinidou, mother of a three-month-old infant, died instantly.
As philenews learns, the 23-year-old defendant recently submitted a request to the Legal Service, that the case be heard by a Court of the Republic of Cyprus and not by a court of the British Bases. After studying the request and the case file, the request was accepted by the Legal Service.
Today, the case of the fatal man was registered at the Limassol District Court and was set for the commencement of proceedings in mid-February.
The 23-year-old defendant faces the offence of causing death by reckless, reckless or dangerous act or conduct in violation of Article 210 of the Criminal Code, driving under the influence of drugs and for traffic offences.
It is recalled that 25-year-old Marilena Konstantinidou died next to her little daughter, just three months old, whom she did not have time to enjoy.
The investigation of the fatal incident was carried out by the SBA Police since the area where the tragedy occurred falls under its jurisdiction.
The fatal accident occurred at 10:00 in the evening, New Year's Eve 2022, on the Kolossi-Akrotiri road. The vehicle was driven by the 23-year-old defendant with his 25-year-old partner as a passenger while their three-month-old infant was in the back seat in a child seat. The three were heading from Akrotiri to Kolossi and at a point on the road at a right turn, the driver lost control of his vehicle and as a result it overturned and ended up in pine trees. Marilena, 25, died instantly.
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Members of the Ledra Substation arrested yesterday afternoon in Nicosia, a 33-year-old man, for the offence of illegal possession of property.
Specifically, in the possession of the 33-year-old, the keys of four cars were found, while he then indicated to the members of the Police a car, which was parked on an adjacent road and allegedly admitted that he had stolen it on 22/1/2024 from an area of Nicosia.
The arrested man was taken to the offices of Nicosia Central Police Station where he allegedly admitted to stealing three other cars.
The 33-year-old was detained while the Nicosia ICF, in cooperation with the Nicosia Central Police Station and the Omorfita Police Station, continue the examinations.
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A fifth suspect, aged 17, was identified by the Police and after being questioned, he was charged in writing, in connection with the case of assault and injury of a 26-year-old man, on January 06, in Limassol. Four other suspects, aged 25, 24, 22 and 18, had been identified and arrested in the previous days as part of the investigation, while police are looking for a number of other suspects.
In the same case, police are still searching for a number of other suspects, photographs of whom are being re-released, in order to gather information that may help locate them.
Anyone who knows anything that may help identify or locate them is kindly requested to contact the ICF Limassol at the telephone number 25-805057 or the nearest Police Station, or the Citizen's Line at the telephone number 1460.
The attack, according to the evidence under investigation, took place in the early morning of January 6, 2024, in Limassol, when a 26-year-old man was allegedly attacked by a group of 15-20 people. The 26-year-old was seriously injured in the face in the attack.
The case is being investigated by the ICF of Limassol.
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A 35-year-old resident of the Famagusta district was sentenced to five years in prison by the Famagusta Permanent Assize Court, which found him guilty of robbing a kiosk using a pistol dummy.
According to the facts of the case, the robbery was committed on October 30, 2023. The accused entered the booth and asked to buy cigarettes. He then retrieved a pistol and demanded the money from the cash register.
The clerk refused, and then the 35-year-old, after grabbing the entire cash register, fled. The assailant disappeared from the scene in a car waiting for him outside the kiosk. The 35-year-old was subsequently arrested and found to have used a dummy pistol to commit the robbery.
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28-year-old Charalambos Savva, who escaped from the detention facilities of the Lakatamia Police Station on January 25, where he was being held as an undertrial, was handed over to the ICF of Nicosia.
Savva is reportedly currently being questioned by authorities.
It is recalled that the 28-year-old was arrested in a case of burglary of a building. For his escape, the prisoner managed to enter the disabled toilets, removed an iron for disabled people and with this broke the glass bricks and escaped.
And all this under the noses of four police officers who were on shift without noticing anything. The detainee eventually managed to escape from the double fence of the station, climbing into a truck that was there for the purpose of confiscation.
For the escape, the Chief of Police requested a report of events from Nicosia Police Director George Hininos, in order to determine whether members of the station were responsible for the escape, or whether it was a weakness of the building.
