Filenews 8 March 2025
Police handcuffed a 21-year-old man yesterday afternoon, as more than 400 boxes of duty-free tobacco products were found in his possession.
Specifically, around 18:00 in the afternoon yesterday, members of the Anti-Poaching Unit of the MMAD killed a car driven by a 21-year-old man in an area of Astromeritis.
According to the police, during the search that followed, a large quantity of duty-free tobacco products was found inside the 21-year-old's vehicle.
Specifically, 197 boxes of cigarettes of various brands, 166 boxes of heated tobacco products, 51 packages of tobacco as well as2 boxes of cigarillos were found.
The 21-year-old was arrested for flagrant offences and taken to the Peristerona Police Station. The detected tobacco products were handed over to an officer of the Department of Customs and Excise while the 21-year-old was fined out of court.
The case is being investigated by the Department of Customs and Excise due to its competence.
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On the trail of a person related to the surrogacy case and the ghost medical center World Center Of Baby is the Police and especially the Limassol Crime Detection Department.
According to "F" information, the examiners of the case obtained information about a person who attempted to register the said medical center as a valid legal entity through a Greek Cypriot administrative service provider.
As we are informed, of course, the registration of a company called World Center Of Baby never proceeded. This is also evidenced by the data available to the Registrar of Companies. Unless another name is chosen.
We remind you that although the ghost clinic advertised on the internet that its headquarters are at a specific address in Limassol, this is not the case. It has never received an operating license from the Ministry of Health. During the on-site visit of Ministry officials and members of the Police to the declared address, no premises connected to the said centre were identified.
Those interested in having children through surrogacy, according to a promotional video of the World Center Of Baby, came to the Republic of Cyprus and then went to a medical center in the occupied areas, where the relevant arrangements were made.
However, after the uproar over illegal activities, the center took down its official website from the internet. As far as we are aware, it contained the identity of at least seven persons. These are essentially administrative officers of the centre, but also specialized scientists.
All indications converge and show that the center promised same-sex couples that they would have children in the occupied areas and could leave without a problem with newborns.
However, as demonstrated by the case of the 36-year-old and the 33-year-old who had twins (no civil status document was declared in the Republic), there was a problem in obtaining official certificates for the birth of newborns in the pseudo-state and consequently it was not possible to issue official travel documents for infants.
This appears to be the third case of same-sex British couples being trapped in the occupied territories due to an issue with newborn passports.
Circuit
All of the above points to the action of a ring that circumvented the law to offer these services and ultimately help same-sex and other couples have children through surrogacy. We remind you that there are restrictions for having a child with surrogate mother both in the Republic of Cyprus, but also in the United Kingdom where those affected come from.
Exploitation of women
The issue with surrogacy is far from simple. As we noted in yesterday's edition of "F", the whole issue has also been linked to exploitation of women. The announcement issued yesterday by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) is also absolutely characteristic.
"Serious concerns are being raised about the activities of surrogacy rings in Cyprus following the revelations of recent days. The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies once again expresses its opposition to the practice of surrogacy, which is a serious form of exploitation and commercialization of women and children."
It is also noted that "the enormous economic benefits that arise for individuals and companies that manage surrogacy procedures, create ideal conditions for the trafficking of vulnerable women for reproductive exploitation." "Surrogacy is a practice with inherent risks to women's rights and integrity."
In addition, it is highlighted: "We recall that the European Parliament has included the practice of surrogacy in the category of trafficking in persons (...). Having a child with surrogacy is a prohibited practice in most European countries, such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, Switzerland.
Finally, it calls on the state "to carry out an evaluation of the implementation of the legislation and to examine the prohibition of the practice of surrogacy", but also to make detailed information public on the applications submitted to the Council for Medically Assisted Reproduction.
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In the context of investigating a case concerning the promotion of posts promoting terrorism, members of the Police went yesterday morning to a specific house in Limassol, where they conducted a search based on a court warrant.
Subsequent examinations revealed testimony against a 21-year-old man who allegedly made posts promoting terrorism on social media platforms.
The 21-year-old was arrested on the basis of a court warrant and detained while the ICF Limassol continues its examinations.
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Cyprus Mail
A man appeared in court in Famagusta on Friday accused of having attempted to import 4,200 lots of what the court described as “sexual power enhancing gel” into the north.
The man arrived at the Famagusta port on a ferry from the southeastern Turkish city of Mersin, which he had boarded with a lorry. The ship docked in Famagusta on March 2 at 10.15am.
According to newspaper Kibris, police representative in court Inanc Dunki said that as the man attempted to leave the port, the police searched his lorry, and found the gel hidden inside 12 cardboard boxes in the lorry cab’s sleeping compartment.
He added that the import of the gel found is prohibited in the north.
Dunki pointed out that the man is a citizen of the Republic of Turkey with “no ties” to Cyprus, and as such requested that the man be jailed pending a trial.
Judge Dilem Akcaba acquiesced, and the man was jailed for a period not exceeding two months pending a future hearing.
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Police on Saturday announced they had confiscated windscreen wipers from a group of six men who were attempting to sell them in the Limassol suburb of Ayia Phyla.
The men were found on Friday morning attempting to sell the windscreen wipers to passing drivers and were taken to a local police station for questioning.
There, it was found that four of them were involved in hawking. They were issued official warnings, while the other two were released after no evidence was found against them.
The remaining windscreen wipers were confiscated.
