Pafos Live 3 April 2025
A 30-year-old Greek Cypriot man was arrested last night by the police at a private clinic in Nicosia. An arrest warrant had been issued against him and he was wanted in connection with a case of finding a loaded pistol in an open area of the village of Konia last November, while two other persons had been arrested for the same case.
The investigation of the case began on November 1, 2024, after evaluating information that in a deserted area of the village of Konia, a car without registration plates was hidden. Members of the Police located the vehicle and placed the area under surveillance. On the evening of the same day, a second car was seen approaching the abandoned vehicle. Two people were seen coming out of the vehicle, one of the two was holding various items of clothing and a can.
The members of the Police tried to stop the two persons for control. They managed to stop a 41-year-old man, while the second person fled and, taking advantage of the darkness, managed to escape only to be arrested the next day.
From examinations that followed, a knife was found and confiscated in the possession of the 41-year-old. Inside the abandoned vehicle, a full firearm cartridge and a shell were found and confiscated.
An investigation was also carried out in the area from which the second person escaped, where a can, a hood and gloves, as well as a loaded pistol, were found, which were received and underwent scientific examinations.
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It was reported to the Police by a 23-year-old delivery man, that around 11.45 p.m. yesterday, while he was riding his motorcycle in an area of Limassol, about twenty people who were riding motorcycles and allegedly had knives, clubs, sticks and wearing hoods, attacked him.
According to the complaint, one of the perpetrators beat him with a stick in the hand, while after throwing him on the ground, they stole the bag he was holding, which contained a sum of money, and fled.
From the incident, the 23-year-old was not injured and did not wish to go to the Hospital.
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Filenews
More than 55 kilograms of marijuana (cannabis), originating from Thailand, were seized, in just one week, by members of the Anti-Drug Service and the Customs Department at Larnaca Airport.
The activation of the route used by international drug trafficking circuits, from which very large quantities of cannabis and cocaine have come in the past, has caused a great headache to the Police.
This time, the itineraries made by a 26-year-old woman from Greece, who was arrested last Sunday when about 40 kilograms of cannabis were found in her luggage, are under the microscope.
The case, according to information from Filenews, was kept secret until today, in an attempt to locate the recipients in Cyprus, who are being sought. In fact, the detention procedure of the young woman, who was detained for 8 days, was conducted behind closed doors, before the Larnaca District Court.
The 26-year-old, who, as mentioned above, has come to Cyprus other times, is believed to have been recruited by an international circuit to transport the new large quantity of drugs, which are among the largest in recent months. Her two pieces of luggage were checked as soon as she arrived from Thailand, via Doha.
According to the Police, 2 nylon vacuum packs were found in them, inside which there were smaller packages containing cannabis plant material, gross weight, about 40 kg. Interpol has been informed about the case, while investigations are continuing in Cyprus by the Larnaca Police Department.
It is recalled that on March 26, a 26-year-old woman from Malaysia was arrested at Larnaca airport with 16 kilograms of cannabis.
The young woman arrived from Thailand via Dubai and the drugs were found in the luggage, after investigations by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Customs Department.
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A large global operation to combat child sexual abuse through the dark web involved 38 countries, including Cyprus, as announced by the competent authorities.
In fact, among the arrests made is a 30-year-old man from Cyprus.
The international operation aimed to shut down a website that operated on the dark web and hosted child sexual abuse material. The operations were carried out between 10 and 23 March 2025, in close coordination between the participating countries and international law enforcement authorities.
According to Europol and police announcements, more than 1,300 suspicious users worldwide have been identified by the operation. In total, 79 people were arrested in various countries, including a suspect in Cyprus, aged 30.
Investigations are ongoing, while authorities stress the importance of international cooperation in tackling child sexual exploitation crimes through online platforms operating on the dark web.
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Members of the Limassol TAE arrested 4 more people today, in relation to the incidents that took place on March 28, 2025, in Agia Fyla. They are three minors and an 18-year-old. After being questioned in writing, they were subsequently released to be summoned later before a court.
With the new arrests, the total number of arrests for this case amounts to 25.
It should also be noted that for the 13 persons who were arrested that particular night, a criminal case was registered against them today before the Limassol District Court.
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A 20-week prison sentence with a two-year suspension was imposed by the court of the British Bases of Dhekelia on a 20-year-old man, who on November 7, 2024 stabbed his father in the leg at their home in Dasaki Achna.
According to British bases, on the afternoon of November 7, the 20-year-old stabbed his father in the leg during an argument over a mobile phone. The father had been transferred to the Larnaca General Hospital, where he underwent surgery.
The case was denounced by the brother of the accused, mentioning that his brother stabbed their father. The 20-year-old then surrendered to the BB Police and pleaded guilty before the Court.
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"A Cypriot court acquitted five Israelis accused of raping a British woman." With this title, yesterday's article of the Guardian newspaper refers to the decision taken on Monday by the Famagusta Assize Court for the acquittal of the young men accused of the kidnapping and rape of a 20-year-old British woman in Ayia Napa, on September 3, 2023. Britain's lawyer, Michael Pollack, said an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights was not ruled out.
According to the publication, the court's decision has angered many, while "calls for the verdict to be challenged are increasing". According to the woman's lawyer, this is yet another proof of the "patriarchal" justice system.
As the newspaper writes, the court ruled that the testimony of the 20-year-old girl was not reliable because "it was incoherent and fell into many substantial contradictions". At the same time, it notes that the Israeli defendants claimed "that sexual contact with the woman took place with her consent".
Speaking to the newspaper, Pollack called the court's reasoning "absurd," saying, among other things, that the young girl was "gay," while saying that any claim that the girl "voluntarily agreed to have group sex with men she had never met before, and who speak a different language, is ridiculous."
Pollack, who heads the London-based legal group Justice Abroad, also said that "recently, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that there is no effective protection for women subjected to sexual offences in the Republic of Cyprus", noting that "unfortunately, nothing I have seen shows that there have been improvements in this area".
Speaking about the reaction of the young British woman, whose identity has not been revealed for protection reasons, she said that she is very saddened by the court's verdict while for him she says that "it was one of the most difficult phone calls I have ever had to make" to inform her.
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A person who gambled in an occupied casino tried to pass through a barricade in the free areas with €225,000 and his Customs Department withheld them.
This is one of the few cases in which the Republican authorities have been able to exercise effective control over a barricade as part of anti-money laundering efforts.
The above case was highlighted by the current parliamentary scrutiny, which focused on the mechanism of the Customs Department to control persons who are trafficked through the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus with large sums of money in their possession, in order to gamble in casinos of the pseudo-state.
The officer of the Customs Department, Mari Charalambous Kliiotou, spoke about the case, in response to a relevant question by MP Irene Charalambidou.
Previously, it was clarified that there is not much room for control of people who move large sums through crossing points within the Republic. However, the officer of the Customs Department referred to the case of a foreign person who came from the occupied territories and stated that he had €225,000 in his possession and that this money came from winnings after gambling in casinos in the occupied territories.
Based on her reports, this money was withheld by the Customs Department at the beginning of 2025 and her service is currently investigating in cooperation with the competent authorities of the Republic for the identity of the person in question.
However, what emerged is that due to the Green Line regulation and the existing legal status, it is not possible to effectively control sums of money that come and go between free and occupied areas.
It is characteristic that the chairman of the parliamentary committee on Institutions, Dimitris Demetriou, wanting to indicate the absence of an adequate control mechanism, commented that based on the existing data, someone must have a low IQ to declare what amount they are transporting through the barricades.
Earlier, the deputy director of the Customs Department, Antonis Pilidis, referred to the entire history since 2004 when the barricades were opened and the efforts of his service to ask for guidance on how the issue of money transfers from the crossing points should be managed. He referred to the efforts of the late former Minister of Labour, Zeta Emilianidou, who, as director of the Customs Department, had repeatedly made demarches to manage the issue (2008-2012) by sending letters to co-competent services of the Republic.
As Mr. Pilidis explained, after a broad meeting of stakeholders at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 2013, a circular was issued, which excludes the Customs Department from any control of the movement of cash within the Republic.
He explained, of course, that the Customs Department accepted and continues to accept declarations of cash worth €10,000 or more at the approved crossing points in accordance with the legislation, only in cases where it is established that the person transporting them has entered the Republic through a closed entry point (barricade).
As noted in a relevant memorandum delivered by Mr. Pilidis, in such a case, it is considered that the first point of entry into the Republic is the point of transit, where this person meets the official authorities of the Republic for the first time.
The Customs Department in these cases, as he explained, accepts the cash declaration and informs MOKAS and the Police by noting on the statement the phrase 'illegal import from the occupied territories'. It is understood that if, in the context of the controls, the Customs Department detects undeclared cash assets worth €10,000 or more, which were transferred to the Republic from a closed port or airport, it proceeds to seize them".
As mentioned during the discussion, if €10,000 is found in the possession of a foreign person in the context of a barricade search by the Customs Department and this person declares that the origin is the mainland, such as, for example, winnings from casinos, then MOKAS will be notified the next working day. If he is a Cypriot citizen, then the Tax Department is notified accordingly. The Customs Department is entitled to detain them or seize them only in case of failure to declare or an untrue/inaccurate/incomplete declaration.
It is worth noting that relatives of the first victim, during their departure from the courtroom of the Assize Court, expressed strong complaints about the management of the defendants within the courtroom. According to them, the defendants were transferred to the courtroom and placed in the back seats, next to them, before entering the dock. The relatives, visibly moved, expressed their disappointment, describing the action of the members of the Police who were responsible for the transport of the accused as unacceptable.
We remind you that the two defendants deny the 8 charges they face concerning conspiracy to commit a felony, conspiracy to murder, premeditated murder, arson of a car, illegal possession, transport and use of a firearm, illegal possession, transport and use of explosives, as well as arson of a state forest. The first defendant also faces charges of supplying drugs, while the second is charged with drug possession.
