Pafos Live 9 April 2024
A 44-year-old British man was arrested by police at Paphos airport as he was about to return home.
In his luggage was found a large quantity of tobacco products which he obtained illegally from the occupied areas and which he apparently intended for sale. A search of the Briton's luggage found 100 boxes of cigarettes and 39kg of tobacco.
The British man was unable to pay the large fine imposed by customs authorities, was arrested and is expected to be taken to court for a detention order.
* * * * * *
Police made a third arrest today in connection with the case of a large quantity of drugs that was found and seized last Saturday in Larnaka.
He is a 25-year-old resident of Larnaka, who was arrested under a court warrant to facilitate interrogations. The 25-year-old had been given testimony during questioning in connection with the case.
It is recalled that for the same case are under eight-day detention a 19-year-old and a 54-year-old woman, who were arrested last Saturday after the drugs were detected.
The investigation of the case began on the evening of April 6, when members of the Police found after searching the 19-year-old's car, a small amount of cannabis.
A search of the 19-year-old's home followed, where in the presence of him and the 54-year-old, a quantity of cocaine, gross weight of two kilograms and 623 grams and a quantity of cannabis with a gross weight of two kilograms and 733 grams were located and seized.
* * * * * *
Filenews
Police arrested in the afternoon the 59-year-old man from Emba who was wanted for yesterday's incidents in a community parking lot and the attack on a 25-year-old man.
The young man complained to police that he was unnecessarily attacked by the 59-year-old yesterday, saying they had previously had personal differences. According to the 25-year-old's complaint, the arrested man intentionally drove his car resulting in the complainant's vehicle suffering extensive damage. He also complained that the 59-year-old beat him and threw stones at him.
The Police are investigating a case of actual bodily harm and malicious damage.
* * * * * *
An 18-year-old man of Lebanese origin was detained for eight days today and arrested yesterday on the basis of a court warrant for an investigation into participation in a criminal organisation, smuggling of irregular migrants, conspiracy to commit a felony and money laundering, among other offences.
The person in question is alleged to be collaborating with another person residing in Lebanon and to be members of a smuggling ring of irregular migrants from Lebanon to the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
Two more people are wanted in this case.
* * * * * *
Serious complaints to the Police against a fish farm owner in Trimiklini have been made by public officials, which have taken legal action. According to data revealed today by "F", two relevant criminal files have been formed by the Police Force, with the same number of cases to be brought before the Limassol District Court in 2024.
On the basis of the formal complaints surrounding these two cases, executives of the ownership of aquaculture allegedly obstructed officers of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research, as well as the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, when the latter went to the company's premises for an on-site inspection.
Apart from the fact that, based on the testimony given to the Police, public officials were not allowed to enter the area, they were insulted, while in one case the owner of the business allegedly caused damage amounting to €1,300 to the vehicle of an employee of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism.
The indictments of the two cases filed against two persons include offenses of (1) obstruction of public officials in the performance of their lawful duties, (2) public insult and (3) malicious damage. The two on-site inspections attempted to be carried out by civil servants were on 19/9/2023 and 24/11/2023, respectively.
In the first case, inspectors of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research went to check and inspect the company's premises in Trimiklini and the owner allegedly forbade them. In fact, another person, who was with the latter, insulted them. The incident was reported to the Police Station of Lania, whose members formed a criminal file and registered a case with the Court, which is already being heard.
The other incident, on 24/11/2023, occurred when officers of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism went to the same point to check and inspect the company's premises. Based on their testimony against the owner, he refused them entry, insulted them, and caused malicious damage to the private car of one of the two officers of the deputy ministry, which was estimated at 1,300 euros. In this case too, a complaint was made to the Police Station of Lania, with the case –also– being under trial.
However, police investigations in the case are not limited to the above. As we are informed, a special report of the Audit Office of the Republic has been put before the Police and is the subject of a criminal investigation. Specifically, on the basis of the findings of the Audit Office, written statements have been taken from persons who have a direct or indirect relationship with the case, while in the context of the police examinations, various documents have been received and are being examined.
In a special report of the Audit Office, dated 13/12/2023, it is noted, inter alia, for its findings: (...) on the occasion of complaints concerning, inter alia, the diversion of water from the Kouris River and its transfer to illegal facilities of a fish farm in the Community of Trimiklini, as well as the appropriation of state land for private interests, by the managers of the above fish farm, decided to investigate the matter.
Our Service also examined the licensing process of another fish farm, of its own interests, in the Community of Silikou, an issue that we mention in our Reports from 2015. We note that this is a single development, which operates in adjacent plots that fall within the communities of Trimiklini and Silikos (...) complaints included allegations of money laundering activities, an issue which we forwarded to MOKAS (...).
From our audit we confirmed the illegal diversion of water from the Kouris River, the construction and operation of illegal fish farming facilities, a recreation center and visitor accommodation, as well as the fact that part of the development illegally interferes with state land."
The issue of the fish farm is also under investigation by the Independent Authority against Corruption.
* * * * * *
Cyprus Police
Members of various departments of the Limassol Police Directorate, carried out the past four days (5-8/04/2024) operations to control persons and properties, in specific areas of the Limassol district, as part of the measures taken by the Police to prevent and suppress crime . At the same time, they carried out traffic checks, as part of actions to reduce serious road collisions and increase road safety. From Friday evening until this morning, members of the Police, among others, carried out checks in various areas of Limassol, during which a total of 806 persons and 768 vehicles were checked, as well as a number of properties. The police checks resulted in four arrests for various offenses (two of which had outstanding warrants) and four night club complaints. During the traffic controls, 118 complaints were made, of which 27 were for driving under the influence of alcohol, while 19 vehicles were confiscated. In addition to the actions of ADE Limassol, members of the Traffic Headquarters, as part of the actions to reduce serious road collisions and increase road safety, in the same period (5-8/4/2024), carried out traffic controls, on the highways and on the secondary road network. During the checks, more than 500 complaints were received for various traffic offences, of which 180 were for exceeding the speed limit. The actions of the Police to deal with crime, delinquency, and traffic offenses continue every day, with the aim of ensuring public order and increasing citizens' sense of security.
