Pafos Live 20 March 2026
In a fatal road collision that happened last night in Nicosia, 15-year-old Osh Mustafa, from Syria, lost his life.
Around 9.15 p.m. yesterday, a motorcycle driven by the 15-year-old on Ifigenias Avenue in Strovolos, with a 17-year-old passenger, under circumstances that are being investigated, collided with a car driven by a 39-year-old. Subsequently, the motorcycle in question also crashed into a parked car.
The two occupants of the motorcycle were injured and transported by ambulance to the Nicosia General Hospital, where the 15-year-old succumbed to his injuries while the 17-year-old was detained for further treatment in the Intensive Care Unit. His health condition is judged by the treating doctors to be critical.
From further examinations carried out, it was found that the motorcycle involved had been reported as stolen to the Police, by its owner on 09/03/2026.
The Nicosia Traffic Police continues the examinations.
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Filenews
The actions of the Police throughout Cyprus continue, with organized patrols in key points of urban areas, with the aim of preventing serious criminal acts, ensuring public order and increasing the sense of security of the public.
During the checks, the Police proceeded to arrest three persons. Two persons were arrested on the basis of court warrants pending against them for failure to appear before court and debts and a third person for traffic offenses.
As part of these operations, during the night, 522 vehicles were stopped for inspection and a total of 753 drivers and passengers were checked. At the same time, inspections were carried out of 40 premises, where four of them were reported, in relation to offenses related to their operation.
During traffic checks carried out, 280 drivers were reported for various traffic violations, while two drivers were found positive in a preliminary test for driving under the influence of drugs. Also, as part of the police examinations, nine vehicles were detained.
Coordinated policing operations, for the prevention and suppression of crime, continue daily, with an enhanced police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action, in order to protect citizens and ensure public order.
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The proceedings before the Permanent Criminal Court of Larnaca for the 4 Greek Cypriots who are alleged to be members of a criminal group providing "protection" to businesses in Larnaca have been postponed. A fifth Greek Cypriot, aged 32, was removed from the indictment due to the fact that there was no testimony against him to support the charges.
The procedure was set today for the remaining four 42, 22, 29 and 29-year-olds to respond to the charges they face. Their lawyers asked for time as well as further details about the charges facing their clients. That is why the case was postponed and set for April 7.
Charges have been removed from the indictment of the case, but the most serious ones remain, which carry up to 14 years in prison. Specifically, among other things, the four are accused of participation in a criminal organization and money laundering.
The alleged action of the criminal network came to light when videos were found on two mobile phones, which had been confiscated during the arrest of a 22-year-old Contracted Soldier of the National Guard, who is on trial for the attempted murder of a 47-year-old businessman last July. It is noted that the businessman in question was referred to trial for interfering in a judicial process, in relation to the case of the shooting in the center of Larnaca and was released on parole.
The 19 videos found on the mobile phones depict various incidents from 2023-2025, in which the 22-year-old allegedly shows large sums of money. As it was told in court during the detention process of the five, the 22-year-old defendant allegedly trafficked drugs with the proceeds ending up with the 42-year-old. Regarding the provision of protection, a video was found, in which SYOP appears to show off money from the collection of a specific nightclub in the Mackenzie area.
In the house of the 42-year-old, alleged head of the network, a notebook with names was also found, next to which sums of money were written. Meanwhile, the Police checked the declared financial data of the defendants and found, as the court was told, that they were not consistent with their assets.
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The Limassol District Court today imposed a four-year prison sentence on the two accused Iranians who deceived two victims, extorting an amount of €24.000 under the pretext that they would secure documents for them to go to Germany. The victims, after making a long journey with a stop in Istanbul and from the occupied territories, then ended up in the free areas, where they were eventually trapped.
The defendants were facing 15 charges and the case had entered a hearing. However, halfway through the trial, the two Iranians changed their stance and proceeded to admit the common charges related to aiding illegal crossing, money laundering, forgery, circulation of a forged document, securing goods with false representations as well as offenses of threat and theft.
According to the facts, which were exposed by the Prosecuting Authority, which was represented by Konstantina Hatzikonstantinou, there was a complaint that the complainants were approached through social media and the conversations took place through specific applications. The first €6,000 for each would be given to Iran and the rest to Cyprus, if the destination was Germany. The arrival in Cyprus was via Istanbul and then from uncontrolled areas. The transition to the free areas was carried out with various vehicles and with the participation of foreign persons involved in various parts of the route. Upon arrival in Cyprus, they would be accommodated in Pournara, and had to wait for Germany.
In this context, the fake passport of the 33-year-old foreigner was also prepared. After leaving Pournara, the complainants were helped to find a house in the same apartment building in which the defendants lived. They also received threats and the theft was in the context of demanding a refund of their money. The two paid €12,000 each.
As noted in the court's decision, "even if it does not appear that there is a criminal organization in the legislative sense, the case does not concern isolated or occasional delinquent behaviour, but constitutes organized and multi-stage criminal activity, which extended over a significant period of time, i.e. from November 2024 to March 2025. The method of the action included approaching the complainants through social media, maintaining communication through electronic applications, agreeing to pay sums of money in stages, organizing the movement through third countries and uncontrolled areas, using alternating persons and preparing a forged document (passport)."
The two defendants took advantage of persons who were in a particularly vulnerable position as third-country nationals in an irregular movement process and then depended on them for their residence and subsequent transition. As regards the extent of the damage, it appears that the complainants suffered significant property damage totalling €24,000, which cannot be considered negligible, especially in view of their personal and financial circumstances.
This case, as underlined by the court, is not limited to simple aiding illegal crossing, but has characteristics of multidimensional and structured criminal activity.
The court took into account that the 1st defendant from Iran is 52 years old and arrived in Cyprus in December 2024 seeking political asylum, while the 2nd defendant and his compatriot is 28 years old. As noted in the decision, the admission of the accused is taken into account, however, given that it occurred at an advanced stage of the proceedings, after the presentation of the complainant's testimony in court, "its mitigating effect is limited and is not equated with that which it would have had in the event of a timely admission".
The court imposed a sentence on the 2nd charge of assisting illegal or crossing, which is more serious. Taking into account the individual differences in the participation of each defendant in terms of their mode of action and their personal circumstances, the court considered that the proportional differentiation in their criminal treatment is justified, even taking into account that the 2nd defendant faces an additional charge of theft, which the 52-year-old does not face. The 52-year-old was sentenced to 3 years in prison immediately, while the 28-year-old was sentenced to 4 years in prison, which will be counted for both of them, from April 7, 2025, the date they were detained.
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Officials of the Customs Department stopped today 19/03 at the Agios Dometios crossing point, a vehicle driven by an 80-year-old man in which a large amount of fuel was found.
Specifically, in the storage area of the vehicle in the back, 10 plastic 20-liter bottles containing a total of 160 liters of diesel and 40 liters of gasoline were found.
The driver was arrested for flagrante delicto, while the water bottles with their contents, as well as the vehicle as their means of transport, were confiscated.
Shortly afterwards, the 80-year-old was released after his request for an out-of-court settlement of the offenses with the payment of an amount of €1,000 was accepted.
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The repeated criminal actions against members of the same family in the free province of Famagusta within a few months are of great concern. The last blow came in the early hours of Thursday when an unknown person fired at the houses of two brothers in Ayia Napa with a firearm, while there were people in them, fortunately without anyone being injured.
The target of the criminal actions is believed by the Police to be a businessman operating in Ayia Napa. In fact, the authorities received specific information about the reason why the businessman may be targeted, when a grenade was found in a busy premises he owns last summer. However, according to information from Filenews, he does not cooperate with the Police, which complicates the course of the investigations, which are focused on identifying evidence to identify and arrest the perpetrators, who are estimated not to be the instigators. The investigations are also focused on the activities of the businessman in question, since he allegedly has financial differences with specific persons. The businessman is currently abroad and is expected to be approached again for a deposition when he returns.
Thursday's criminal act was committed in the homes of his relatives, who were on the same street. Once again, the Police, according to competent sources, acted on information that came before them and not after a complaint. According to the Police, the shots were fired around 2 in the morning at the homes of a 67-year-old and a 60-year-old. From the examinations, it appears that three shots were fired at the first house and four shots were fired at the second, using a firearm. The shots caused damage to the masonry of the two houses. Members of the Famagusta Police Department are looking for testimonies from neighbours, as well as from closed surveillance circuits in the area, in an attempt to identify the movements of the perpetrators.
It is noted that last December, unknown persons fired shots at the home of another person, who is again related to the businessman. The shots were fired at 4:30 in the morning on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, while the owners of the house were inside it. However, even then there was no complaint made to the Police, who received information about the criminal act thirteen hours later. As it was found against the residence, located in a remote area, four shots were fired coming from a firearm.
The other two criminal actions targeted the businessman's own premises, with the perpetrators in both cases informing both a television channel in Nicosia and the Police who had been alerted with warning phone calls. On July 26, 2025, a defensive grenade was found at the businessman's premises in Ayia Napa. The area, which was full of people, including many children, had been evacuated. On August 17, moreover, unknown persons warned again about the existence of an explosive device in the same area, which was evacuated and searches were carried out without finding anything.
