Saturday, January 18, 2025

CRIME ROUND UP

Pafos Live 18 January 2025



A 34-year-old man was sentenced to 9 years in prison by the Pafos Permanent Assize Court for possession and distribution of drugs, where 9,299 kilos of cannabis were found in his possession.

The 34-year-old was arrested on May 7, 2024 after monitoring his apartment, where offensive weapons were also seized. The court took into account the quantity of drugs in imposing the sentence.

* * * * * *


Filenews

Police arrested a 30-year-old man in Nicosia for impersonation, serious traffic offences and drugs on Friday night.

According to the Police, members of the Nicosia Traffic Police, shortly after 9.00 last night, stopped for inspection a 30-year-old car driver, whom they found violating the red light at a junction controlled by traffic lights, in Nicosia, as well as using a mobile phone while driving. At the same time, one of his vehicle's headlights was out of order.

While checking his details, the 30-year-old reported false information to members of the police. His identity was then verified, while it was found that he was driving the car without holding a driving license and without being covered by an insurance certificate.

At the same time, it was found that the 30-year-old was driving under the influence of alcohol, after undergoing a breathalyzer test, with a reading of 88 μg%, instead of up to 22 μg%, which is the permissible limit.

The 30-year-old also underwent a drug test, with a positive preliminary result, but refused to provide a sample for final laboratory testing. A small quantity of cannabis, weighing half a gram, was found in his possession.

The case of impersonation is being investigated by the ICF of Nicosia, the case of traffic violations is being investigated by the Ayios Dometios Police Station, while the case of illegal possession of drugs is being investigated by the YKAN (Nicosia District Unit).

* * * * * *

He didn't stop at a stop and tried to flee and was arrested a short time later.

The reason for this is a 19-year-old man in Limassol, where last night around 07:00 members of the Police and specifically members of Group Z, spotted on a road in Limassol, a 19-year-old driving a car without wearing a seat belt, as well as holding a mobile phone while driving.

Police called the 19-year-old driver to stop for a check, but he developed speed and drove recklessly and dangerously, tried to flee. After the 19-year-old ended up in a dead end, he abandoned his car and fled.

The vehicle was picked up by the Police and taken to the premises of YKAN in Limassol for examinations, while later in the evening, the 19-year-old presented himself at the offices of YKAN.

In a search of the car, in the presence of the 19-year-old, a quantity of cannabis with a total weight of about 24 grams, a precision scale, with traces of cocaine, the sum of €400 and two mobile phones were found and impounded for examinations.

The 19-year-old was arrested and detained, with the YKAN (Limassol District Unit) and the Limassol Traffic Police continuing the examinations.

* * * * * *

An 18-year-old football player in Nicosia filed a complaint with the police for an attack by an assistant coach.

According to police, the complaint was made on January 11. Specifically, the 18-year-old complained that while at a school where a football match for a 19-year-old championship was to be held, he was attacked by an assistant coach of his team.

The 18-year-old was taken to Nicosia General Hospital for tests, where it was found that he had abrasions on various parts of his body.

The next day, the assistant coach also filed a complaint that he was assaulted by the complaining 18-year-old and another teammate.

Police are investigating both cases.

* * * * * *

The 49-year-old businessman, who was arrested on December 6 in Cyprus and managed to escape from the private clinic where he was being treated on December 22, consented to his extradition to Sweden. Today an extradition procedure was set in the Larnaka court, during which he gave his consent to be transferred to Sweden, where he is under suspicion for fraud amounting to €90 million.

The proceedings, however, as decided, will be interrupted and resumed when the escape case is completed, for which he and his 54-year-old lawyer and 44-year-old police officer were referred last Tuesday to a direct trial before the Assize Court. Until then, the 49-year-old will remain in custody at the central prison.

In another development, on Friday morning the defense lawyer of the lawyer and the police officer, Kypros Andreou, appealed to the Court of Appeal against the decision of the Larnaca District Court to detain the two until the start of their trial. According to Filenews, the defense lawyer cites in the appeal 10 reasons on the basis of which, in his opinion, the two defendants should be released. Among them are their close ties to democracy.

The trial is expected to begin on February 11, when the three defendants will answer whether or not they plead guilty to the charges they face. It is recalled that a lawyer and a police officer allegedly played a key role in the escape plan of the Swede, who was arrested on December 23 in an apartment building under construction in Larnaca.

* * * * * *

The seven-day detention of the 35-year-old from Pakistan, suspected of defrauding a company based in Larnaca, was ordered by the city's District Court. The 35-year-old, a permanent resident of Britain, was arrested in France on December 26 under an outstanding European warrant against him and members of the Larnaca ICF transferred him to Cyprus last night.

Larnaca Police spokesperson Christodoulos Konsolos said the 35-year-old was arrested for facilitating investigations into an ongoing case of conspiracy to commit a felony, obtaining goods by false representations, computer fraud and money laundering.

The offences facing the 35-year-old were committed 8 years ago. Specifically, in August 2016, a company manager reported to the ICF of Larnaca that unknown persons violated the company's email address and managed to extract from its bank account the amount of €30,678.

The European warrant against the suspect was issued after it was discovered, through the British authorities, that his company bought 8 cars using the money that ended up in an illegal account, after they were extracted from the company in Larnaca. The account in question was reportedly in the name of another person of Pakistani origin who is wanted.

* * * * * *

A 49-year-old defendant from Greece ended up in prison for six years in connection with a case of possession and importation of a large quantity of drugs. The 49-year-old was found guilty after his own admission to the serious charges he was facing and yesterday the Permanent Assize Court of Limassol unanimously sentenced him to prison.

second person has been charged in the case, who was facing the same charges as the 49-year-old, but denies guilt. According to the facts of the case, the 49-year-old defendant arrived on March 25, 2024 from Greece to Cyprus to receive a parcel with five kilos of cannabis from a company in Limassol. In fact, questioned after his arrest, he had said that his reward was €1,000 and the role assigned to him was to receive the drugs in order to deliver them to a person, following instructions he would receive.

The decision of the Permanent Assize Court of Limassol notes that the defendant was a link in the drug trafficking chain, since in order to be able to send and receive them in Cyprus, his own participation was required. The court did not ignore the fact that the defendant was not the mastermind of the whole operation to import the quantities in question, but he was involved in the whole operation and played an important and decisive role. The Court imposed a sentence of 2 years' imprisonment on the charge of possession and a sentence of 6 years on the offence of importation.

The sentencing took into account the defendant's personal, family and financial circumstances. As noted in the judgment of the Assize Court, the defendant, voluntarily and in exchange for money, which he would receive, became an accomplice of a third person and went to Cyprus in order to receive and import the drugs.

The case is expected to be heard for the second defendant, aged 31, who, according to the facts, was the person who transported the 49-year-old to Limassol to collect the parcel.

In relation to the events, YKAN received information that the 49-year-old arrived in Cyprus on 25/3/24 and was expecting to receive a large quantity of drugs, which was sent from Greece through a company in Limassol. On March 28, following a tip-off, YKAN members placed under discreet surveillance a house where a relative of the 49-year-old resided, in a village in Paphos. During the surveillance, he was seen stopping a vehicle outside the house, driven by the 31-year-old defendant.

The two of them, after going to various points in Paphos, then arrived in Limassol. They parked at a spot near the New Port of Limassol and then the 49-year-old went on foot to company offices. The 31-year-old departed and roamed the area in his vehicle. The 49-year-old, after receiving a box from the company, left the venue and met the 31-year-old, where he placed the box of drugs in the back seat. The vehicle was stopped and a search found that there was a quantity of 4 kg and 940 grams of cannabis in the box.

* * * * * *

Police are investigating a case of theft by a person committed shortly after midnight today in Limassol, with the victim of a 21-year-old man, a food delivery man.

According to the evidence under investigation, at around 00:10 a.m., while the 21-year-old was riding an electric bicycle, at Kyprianou Spyrou Avenue in Limassol, he was approached by two persons wearing helmets, which were being transported by moped and who called him to stop.

The 21-year-old tried to flee, but lost control of his electric bike and fell on the road, resulting in a knee injury. Subsequently, the two perpetrators approached him and stole a sum of money and then fled in an unknown direction, with the ICF Limassol investigating the case.

Cases of robberies and thefts by persons against food distributors have been on the increase lately in Limassol. Since last October, 2024, approximately 20 such cases have been reported to the Limassol Police, with the Police investigators, in the context of the investigation, having made 18 arrests, for cases that have already been registered for trial.

Regarding these cases, it is emphasized that, in the context of its preventive and repressive action, the Police handle them with particular care and seriousness, taking immediate and coordinated actions.