Pafos Live 23 May 2025
Gold jewellery was found in a passenger's hand luggage at Paphos Airport. According to the police, in the departures hall of Paphos Airport, a quantity of gold jewellery was found in the hand luggage of a 38-year-old foreign passenger.
He said that he owns a gold shop and transported the jewellery for professional purposes to Cyprus, but without providing sufficient supporting documents.
The passenger was arrested on a warrant and detained. The jewellery was confiscated and the Paphos TAE is investigating the case.
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- Conspiracy to commit felonies
- Conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor
- Abuse of power
- Breach of official secrecy
- Offences in breach of Article 26 (1) (e), (2) and (4) of the Processing of Personal Data (Protection of the Individual) Act 2001 (138(I)/2001)
- Theft by Public Officials
- Article 19 (b) of the Law on Security Rules for Classified Information, Documents and Material and for Related Matters, Law 84(I)/2021 and K.D.P.410/2013, Article 19 and Article 15 and Annex III (Physical Security)
- Illegal possession of property
Filenews
A four-day detention order was issued by the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni against a 65-year-old man from Romania, who on Wednesday night wounded a 50-year-old compatriot with a knife. The reason for the disagreement, as it was said in court, was financial disputes that the two had.
The alleged perpetrator contacted the Police shortly after 9 p.m., reporting that the 50-year-old man is outside his residence in Paralimni, who threatened him with a knife. Subsequently, the 65-year-old, as reported to the court, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and opened the door. According to his testimony, the 50-year-old was holding a knife and threatening him.
The two argued and the 65-year-old allegedly caused injuries to the head and left arm of the 50-year-old. The 50-year-old went to the Famagusta General Hospital, where he was discharged, after his injuries were sutured.
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The two young men who were arrested by the Police as suspects for the serious incidents at the Omonia building in Lakatamia were released yesterday.
The Court before which the two young men were presented by an investigator of the Nicosia TAE, was not convinced that there is sufficient evidence against them that they are involved and therefore ordered their dismissal.
The two arrested had put forward an alibi that they were elsewhere at the time of the incidents, something that the Police have not yet investigated, a fact that counted in the decision to release them.
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A 39-year-old foreigner who is wanted by Interpol was arrested yesterday at Larnaca Airport.
According to a statement by the Police, upon his arrival from abroad, he was found to be wanted through an Interpol Red Notice by the competent authorities of the United States of America for serious criminal offences, including cyber fraud and other related offences, which were allegedly committed in the period 2016–2017.
A provisional arrest warrant was issued against him and he was arrested.
He is expected to appear today at the Larnaca District Court for the start of the extradition proceedings
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A serious incident of dangerous driving occurred in the early hours of the morning in Nicosia, when a 34-year-old man was spotted driving at a speed of 110 km/h on a road with a speed limit of 50 km/h.
The driver ignored the Police signal, developed speed and tried to escape.
According to the Police, members of the Force followed him and stopped his vehicle. The 34-year-old tried to escape on foot, without success, as he was located and arrested. At the time of his arrest, he refused to undergo a preliminary alcohol and drug test.
The driver was arrested and his vehicle was confiscated. The case is being investigated by the Police.
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The episodic pursuit of the Italian speedboat driver, who has been under arrest since early afternoon, lasted for a relatively long time.
As we noted, when he was spotted by a boat of the Port and Maritime Police in the sea area of Cape Greco (at 14:00 and 30 n.m. northeast of Paralimni) he did not respond to the call of the members of the police force to stop and be checked.
Instead, he developed speed with the apparent intention of escaping. A total of three Coast Guard boats (two from Famagusta and one from Larnaca) participated in the pursuit, while it lasted more than half an hour.
As reported to us, the driver of the speedboat, coming from the occupied areas, tried to ram the boats of the Coast Guard.
Eventually, his escape was interrupted and he was arrested, after the members of the Port and Naval Police first used their service weapons. We were told that first there were shots in the air and then members of the Coast Guard fired at the engine of the speedboat.
The 68-year-old Italian citizen was taken to the port of Larnaca after his arrest. The basic scenario that the Police are considering is that he is a migrant smuggler. Of course, based on our reliable information, the possibility that the Italian has a criminal past is being checked. It is also being examined whether the vessel he used is registered with the Republic.
For the time being, he does not seem to be cooperating with the authorities. He makes various allegations about the fact that he did not stop when he was called by Coast Guard officials. Among other things, he mentioned that he was considering going to a technician in order to repair his boat.
It is noted that the 68-year-old was arrested for a flagrant offense (negligent and reckless acts). Then, according to an official information we received, members of the Larnaca TAE investigated the boat without detecting anything. The driver was detained and a case is expected to be registered against him tomorrow at the Larnaca District Court.
The information that the suspect appears to have been armed and threw the weapon into the sea before his arrest is not confirmed officially.
Update: No serious criminal offenses were found to have been committed by the 68-year-old Italian driving a speedboat that was pursued yesterday by the Port Police, members of which fired shots to immobilize it.
The boat, which belongs to a Russian, was searched by members of the Larnaca TAE without finding anything in it. According to information from philenews, the 68-year-old, who had a speedboat operator's license, claimed that he was transporting the boat from Mersin, Turkey, to the port of Limassol for repairs on behalf of the Russian. He admitted that he developed high speed, however, he claims that he did not perceive the signal they made to him to stop the members of the Port Police.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon 30 nautical miles northeast of Paralimni. According to the Police, the driver was signalled to stop for a check, however, he failed to do so by driving negligently and recklessly. The boat was pursued by the Port Police, but the driver of the speedboat continued to drive dangerously.
In order to make it possible to stop him, warning shots were fired in the air and then the police fired at the engine of the speedboat in order to immobilize it. The boat was taken to the Port of Larnaca and a 68-year-old man was arrested for the flagrant offense of negligent and reckless acts.
The investigations of the Police, as mentioned on our website, did not confirm the initial suspicions of migrant smuggling or contraband. A case was registered against the Italian before the Larnaca District Court, for negligent and reckless acts and violation of the legislation regarding high-speed boats.
He pleaded guilty and after signing a €10,000 bail he was released. The case was set for June 20 for facts and sentence.
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A fire in objects placed in the courtyard of a high school in Larnaca, put the Fire Department on alert last night.
According to the spokesperson of the Fire Department, at 2:05 a.m., the Larnaca Fire Stations responded with two manned fire trucks for a fire in a pile of various items of school equipment in a high school yard in Larnaca.
Part of the building's masonry was also affected by the smoke. To extinguish the fire, water pipes and breathing apparatus were used. The scene is being guarded by the Police and will be investigated later today by an investigation into the causes of the fire
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in-cyprus
Three men accused of stealing €15,000 worth of sheep have been remanded in custody until 2 June following their appearance at Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas Court.
The men face 13 criminal charges relating to animal theft allegedly committed between 30 April and 1 May within the UK Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. They were arrested on 10 May in the Xylophagou area whilst allegedly attempting to steal livestock in the early hours.
Bases authorities have linked all three suspects to similar cases within the Republic of Cyprus.
Sovereign Base Areas Police Superintendent Dinos Petrou described livestock theft as a persistent problem in rural areas, citing the animals’ monetary value and thieves’ ability to operate undetected under cover of darkness.
“Historically, livestock is seen as an easy target. Firstly, they can be sold for quite a large sum of money and secondly, would-be thieves are able to move around undetected under the cover of darkness, when there are very few people around,” Petrou said.
He noted that farmers have increasingly installed CCTV systems and enhanced security measures to deter criminal activity.
Police are developing a more comprehensive approach to tackling rural theft through cooperation with stakeholders and community networks, with the Neighbourhood Policing unit leading the initiative, the bases said.
Petrou acknowledged the Hunters Association’s role in the recent arrests, describing a collaborative relationship with hunters and Cyprus Police in pursuing perpetrators.
“We take this very seriously as farmers rely on their livestock to make a living and we will not tolerate it,” he said.
The defendants are scheduled to appear in court again within two weeks to face the charges.
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Cyprus Mail
The trial of Israeli property developer Simon Mistriel Aykut, who stands accused of having developed and sold €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north, continued on Thursday with the hearing of new witnesses.
The first witness of the day was a member of the police’s investigative team, who had been involved in the investigation of Aykut since March last year.
Defence lawyer Maria Neophytou asked him a series of questions regarding why the arrest warrant for Aykut was only issued in June last year, when the police seemed to have information much earlier, and given that Aykut had crossed from the north into the Republic without being stopped as recently as May 2024.
The witness responded that he had only been a member of the investigative team since March 2024 and that the case is “voluminous”, with “many files and materials which were constantly under evaluation”.
Additionally, he said, “the date of issuance of the arrest warrant was a decision of my superiors”.
Neophytou then asked why every time a statement was taken from a Greek Cypriot regarding the Aykut case, they were asked whether they had or intended to apply to the Immovable Property Commission, with the witness asking that “the investigators have the right to ask questions of their own judgment”.
The case will continue next Tuesday.
Aykut was arrested in June last year while attempting to cross from the north to the Republic.
He is the founder of the Afik Group, which has carried out various construction projects in Trikomo, many of which are believed to be on Greek Cypriot land.
Outside of Aykut’s case, the number of cases regarding the alleged illegal development of Greek Cypriot property in the north is on the rise, with two Hungarian nationals having become the first to be sentenced to prison over the matter last week.
They had admitted to promoting and advertising the sale of houses near Kyrenia on the internet.
Meanwhile, the case of a German national who reportedly spoke about selling property in the north to an off-duty police officer during a flight to Larnaca is ongoing, and arrest warrants were issued on Tuesday for four Turkish nationals in connection with developments in the Famagusta district village of Lefkoniko.
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar had described the arrests as “acts of terrorism” and likened the moves to the violence faced by Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s, while the north’s ‘finance minister’ Erhan Arikli had called for “revenge”.
