Pafos Live 16 March 2024
A car arson in Lemba occurred around 1800 in the afternoon. According to police, a fire broke out in a car, owned by a 29-year-old Greek Cypriot, which was parked on Famagusta Street in Lemba.
The fire was extinguished by the Fire Brigade after causing extensive damage to the vehicle in question. The tent remains under guard for further examinations in broad daylight.
The examinations revealed testimony against a 29-year-old man, also a Greek Cypriot, who was immediately identified, and arrested under another court warrant pending against him in a theft case. He has also confessed to arson and is awaiting a warrant for his arrest for this offence as well.
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Pafos Police arrested a 42-year-old man to facilitate investigations into an ongoing case of illegal possession of property.
According to Pafos Assistant Police Director of Operations, Michalis Nicolaou, last night members of the Pafos ICF went to the home of a 42-year-old man following information that he is in possession of stolen property.
In a search of the residence, a number of metals were found, such as aluminum pieces, coming from doors, windows and various other materials used in construction.
The 42-year-old man who was arrested refuses to cooperate with police.
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Members of the Police arrested eight youths, who are hosted in a hotel unit [accommodation center for unaccompanied minors, in Larnaka], during the suppression of incidents of violence that occurred in the accommodation center. During the incidents, one of the youths and a police officer, who was on duty at the camp, were injured.
The incidents began shortly after 6:00 pm, when a number of youths clashed in the camp, while one of the youths, aged 17, attacked another. A member of the Police who was on duty at the camp, intervened and was attacked by the 17-year-old, as well as by other youths. Among them was a second young man, 17, who attacked the policeman by punching him.
With the intervention of other members of the Police who rushed to the scene, the incidents were suppressed, while the police officer and the first 17-year-old were transferred to Larnaka General Hospital, where they were treated and discharged. This was followed by the arrest of the two 17-year-olds, pursuant to court warrants, for the purpose of investigating the case.
Around 11.00 pm, new incidents of violence broke out in the accommodation center, by a number of other youths, who attacked members of the Police, as well as the hotel manager.
With the new incidents of violence, two officers of the Social Welfare Services were trapped on a floor of the accommodation center. They were released by police officers, who with their new intervention, suppressed the incidents, proceeding to arrest six young guests at the center, five of them aged 17 and the sixth aged 16.
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A child pornography case is being investigated by the Police, whose members proceeded today to arrest a 40-year-old resident of Limassol to facilitate investigations.
The investigation of the case began after information received by the Cybercrime Prosecution Branch, according to which a user of a specific messaging application and photo and video files participates in groups in which child sexual abuse material is distributed.
Police examinations secured testimony against the 40-year-old. Around noon today, the 40-year-old was arrested under a court warrant, while during a subsequent search of his residence, a mobile phone and an electronic tablet were seized as evidence.
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Filenews
A member of a drug import and trafficking ring is believed to be a 40-year-old Turkish Cypriot in whose possession a large quantity of drugs was found on Thursday night.
The Anti-Narcotics Administration had specific information about the alleged activity of the 40-year-old, who lives permanently in the free areas and had previously been sentenced to prison in a drug case.
His vehicle was stopped in an area in Paralimni and a small amount of cannabis was found in his possession. His home was then searched and two travel suitcases containing 12 packages of 7.5kg of cannabis were found in a room. According to philenews information, there was no other evidence in the suitcases, however, it is believed that they arrived by air either through occupied areas or through an airport in the free areas.
The suspect, who is not cooperating with the police, will appear before the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni for a detention order.
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The two Russian suspects were brought before the Limassol District Court yesterday in connection with the money laundering and specifically money laundering case under investigation.
The lawyer of the suspects, addressing the Court, said that due to a very serious health problem that arose in his 41-year-old client, he asked not to read the detention request, so that the procedure would be short, in order to go for a medical examination. He noted that the 41-year-old is diabetic and has a thyroid problem and asks to be transferred to a private clinic at his own expense.
The lawyer of the two did not object to the request to detain his clients for a period of 7 days, noting however that it is certainly for their innocence. He also noted that if the investigations in relation to the case are completed sooner, the two suspects should be released.
The Court approved the request of the Police and ordered their detention, while in relation to the 41-year-old he ordered that he be transferred immediately for medical treatment.
It is recalled that in the context of investigation and evaluation of evidence, members of the Limassol OPE placed a gallery under discreet surveillance, since money laundering was allegedly taking place there.
Around noon on Thursday, a car was seen parked outside the premises and a person exiting the premises and entering the car in the passenger seat. Immediately, the car was stopped by the members of the OPE and during the check of the identity of the two occupants, it was found that the driver was a 33-year-old and a 34-year-old co-driver and both foreigners.
During the ensuing search, a total of 17 envelopes containing money were found in the bag held by the 34-year-old. All the files were opened in the presence of the 34-year-old and after counting the amount of money, it was found to amount to €161,425.
The 34-year-old was arrested for the offence of illegal possession of property and was taken to the offices of the ICF of Limassol.
It is noted that inside the premises there was another person aged 41 who presented himself as a shareholder of the said premises. Both he and the 33-year-old driver of the car were summoned to the ICF Limassol offices for questioning.
A search of the premises found the sum of €706,300, $22,539, £1,375, two banknote counting machines as well as empty paper envelopes allegedly used to pack the money.
At the 34-year-old's home, a large sum of €815, mobile phones as well as empty paper envelopes allegedly used to pack the money were found.
Both the 34-year-old and the 41-year-old were arrested on court warrants and taken into custody.
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in-cyprus
A track coach was found guilty today by the Permanent Criminal Court of Nicosia of sexual assault and indecent assault against former athletes when they were minors.
It involved four complaints from former athletes against the coach, who were training in Larnaca several years ago.
The coach denied all charges, and a hearing that lasted several months was held.
According to a post by the Law Office, which handled the case in Court, the defendant’s lawyer will plead for mitigation of the sentence on April 2.
The case came to light after Cypriot skeet champion Andri Eleftheriou filed a complaint for a different case of abuse.
Eleftheriou and the then Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis urged women to come forward to speak about their experiences of abuse, and there have been calls for better protection for athletes from sexual predators.
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Cyprus Mail
Almost two metric tonnes of beef smuggled to the north from the Republic were seized from supermarkets in the Kyrenia district on Thursday night.
The meat was discovered and seized as part of a joint operation between the Turkish Cypriot police and the north’s customs department, with the offending supermarkets located in the town of Kyrenia and in Karavas.
In total, exactly 1,987.7 kilograms of beef and 67.1kg of lamb were located and taken as evidence.
Three men, two of whom are aged 31 and one who is aged 38, were arrested as a result.
Meat prices in the north are considerably higher than in the Republic, leading Turkish Cypriot consumers to buy meat products south of the Green Line and, seemingly in increasing frequency and amount, illegally take it back to the north.
Earlier this month, a man was fined after being caught at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point attempting to smuggle 143kg of red meat from the Republic to the north, while a similar sting at the Pergamos crossing point and the nearby village of Lysi uncovered 140kg of beef smuggled from the Republic.
Turkish Cypriot butchers have found themselves squeezed by their rising costs and shrinking consumer base, and slaughtered two lambs in protest at the situation in January.
They demanded the north’s ‘government’ “find a solution which would allow meat to be sold at a price range in line with the prices in the Republic of Cyprus.
“We are currently seeing our own citizens travel to the Republic to do their shopping. This has brought vendors, who have been crushed under the weight of economic difficulties, to the point of bankruptcy, meaning they cannot cover basic expenses like their electricity bills or rent,” they said.
They added, “we are throwing away meat we cannot sell because it stinks, and as a result animal slaughter has hit rock bottom,” and that while the crisis is worsening, “the government is acting as if everything is rosy.”
