Pafos Live 26 June 2026
A new large quantity of tobacco products from the occupied territories was found in the possession of a passenger who was going to depart from Cyprus via Paphos airport.
Officials of the Customs Department at Paphos Airport, after evaluating information, located a passenger with British citizenship, before her departure to Liverpool, United Kingdom, with her luggage containing large quantities of cigarettes, the packaging of which was not marked for the harmful effects of smoking in Greek and Turkish, but neither the security feature and the unique traceability code, indications that they were duty-free.
Specifically, a total of 46 boxes of 200 cigarettes each and 40 packs of 20 cigarettes each were found in the passenger's luggage.
The passenger was arrested for flagrante delicto, while her luggage and contents were confiscated. Yesterday she was taken to the Paphos District Court, which issued a 4-day detention order to facilitate the investigative work.
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The Police proceeded to arrest a 36-year-old man, of Arab origin, as part of the investigation of the case of shooting at a residence in Paphos, committed last Wednesday, June 24.
The 36-year-old was located and arrested around 7.15 last night, by members of the Paphos Police Department, by virtue of an arrest warrant, which was issued on the basis of evidence that emerged during the investigation of the case.
It is recalled that around 0350 in the morning on 24/06/2026, shots were fired at the house of two people, aged 41 and 37, in Tremithousa. The shots hit the wooden door of the main entrance of the house.
The Police are considering the possibility of linking the incident to illegal possession and trafficking of drugs.
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Filenews
The presence and action of the Police last night was intense, throughout Cyprus, 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.
As a result of the preventive policing operations, nine persons were arrested for various offenses, such as, among others, possession of a firearm and firing shots, illegal possession of drugs, theft, illegal possession of property.
As part of these operations, during the night, 370 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 498 persons on board were checked. At the same time, 45 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency, from which five complaints emerged.
During traffic checks carried out, 188 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while three investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged. As part of the police examinations, four vehicles were detained.
Of the complaints made about traffic violations, the 101 complaints for exceeding the speed limit stand out. A vehicle driver was reported for driving under the influence of alcohol, while a total of 67 driver checks were carried out.
Policing operations, for the prevention and suppression of crime, continue every day, with an enhanced police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action, in order to protect citizens and ensure public order.
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Three suspects were found "loaded" with gold and watches in Limassol, who were allegedly unable to give convincing explanations for their origin. Members of HEPO handcuffed the three, while part of the objects was identified by a woman - victim of a home burglary.
The three were taken today (25/6) to the Limassol Court, which ordered their detention for a period of five days, in relation to offenses related to illegal possession of property, conspiracy to commit a felony and theft.
According to the facts of the case, yesterday shortly before midnight, members of the Limassol HEPO went to an area where a wanted person lives, as part of an investigation to locate him in a case of theft. A 26-year-old man was found at the scene, who left the house of the wanted person and then entered a vehicle driven by a 39-year-old man, with a 26-year-old passenger as a passenger.
Members of the Police approached the vehicle and demanded explanations from the suspects for their presence at the scene. The 26-year-old reported that they had gone there to sell items, showing the police two wristwatches, three pocket watches with a chain, as well as a bag containing various jewellery.
All the found items were received by the Police, while the three suspects did not give satisfactory explanations for their possession and were arrested for flagrante delicto. They were then taken to the offices of the TAE Limassol to continue the exams.
When interrogated, the 39-year-old stated that the jewellery did not belong to him and claimed that it was handed over to him by a specific person, without knowing its origin. He added that he picked up the other two suspects and that they all went to the wanted man's house together in order to sell the items and secure money.
The 26-year-old denied any involvement with the jewellery, essentially repeating the 39-year-old's allegations. For his part, the 26-year-old stated that he received the gold and went to the wanted person's house in order to sell it, however he did not wish to buy it.
It is noted that this morning a woman, owner of a house in Mesa Geitonia, who had reported a burglary of her residence on June 18, went to the Police. After showing her the found items, she recognized the three pocket watches as hers.
The Police are investigating the possibility that the gold and other objects found are the product of burglaries and thefts committed recently.
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More than 6,5 kilograms of dried bulbs were detected yesterday morning by YKAN in the province of Famagusta and Paphos.
Specifically, as part of the actions taken by YKAN to identify persons who import narcotic substances in parcels through courier companies, targeted operations were carried out today in the province of Famagusta and Paphos.
In the province of Famagusta, two persons aged 35 and 30 were arrested in the possession of packages containing dried poppy bulbs with a total gross weight of four kilograms and 450 grams.
Specifically, a package was found in the possession of the 35-year-old which he had received around 10.20 yesterday morning from a courier company in the province of Famagusta. After an investigation carried out by members of YKAN, it was found that the package contained seven packages containing dried poppy bulbs, with a total gross weight of one kilogram and 400 grams. He was arrested for a self-inflicted offense, while in a search carried out at his home in the province of Famagusta, a package with the same content, with a total gross weight of one kilogram and 450 grams, was found. From further examinations, it was found that the arrested person resides illegally in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
A short time later, a second 30-year-old person, who had previously received a package from the same courier company, was stopped for a check. In his possession, a package containing dried poppy bulbs with a total gross weight of one kilogram and 600 grams was found and he was arrested for a flagrante delicto.
In this company, a third package with the same content was found, with a total gross weight of one kilogram and 600 grams.
The two arrested are expected to be brought before the Famagusta District Court tomorrow morning for the procedure for issuing detention orders.
At the same time, during the YKAN examinations regarding the arrival at Larnaca airport, of a package, which contained half a kilogram of dried poppy bulbs, testimony emerged against a 38-year-old resident of Paphos.
The 38-year-old was found today driving his motorcycle on a Paphos road and was stopped for a check. A gram of powder believed to come from dried poppy bulbs was found in his possession.
The 38-year-old was arrested and taken into custody, while today he is expected to be brought before the Paphos District Court for the procedure for issuing a detention order.
In recent days, after targeted operations by YKAN, more than 58 kilograms of the drug in question have been found, while 13 persons have been arrested.
The operational actions and targeted actions of the Anti-Narcotics Service, to identify and combat the import, trafficking and trafficking of narcotic substances, continue unabated on a nationwide basis.
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They left behind only the windows, while they loaded and disappeared with the aluminium frames. This seems to have been the mode of action of the 46-year-old and his 44-year-old partner, who were arrested as suspects in two cases of burglary and theft in the province of Limassol. The Limassol Court today ordered their five-day detention, while the Police investigations are ongoing.
The two suspects are said to be involved in two different cases committed in recent weeks in the Limassol district. The first case was reported by a 50-year-old contractor, who reported that his country house in Moniatis was broken into. Three large sliding aluminium doors with their blinds, four sliding aluminium windows with their blinds, as well as three air conditioner compressors were stolen from the residence.
According to the complainant, the burglary is estimated to have been committed during the last month. The perpetrators removed the glass from the aluminium frames, but left them on the scene.
The second case was reported yesterday by the owner of a restaurant in Alassa, which is not in operation. As he mentioned, he received a notification through the closed surveillance circuit that unknown persons had violated the space. The complainant immediately went to the scene, where he found an unknown woman sitting in a vehicle. When asked what she was doing there, she claimed that she had stopped to do her physical necessity and then left.
Members of the Lania Police Station went to the scene and found that the perpetrators had removed six aluminium windows. After removing the aluminium frames, they abandoned the glazing in the space. From the study of closed surveillance circuits, investigators identified the 46-year-old and the 44-year-old as suspects, who are known to the authorities from their employment in similar cases in the past.
Arrest warrants were obtained against them and they were subsequently located and arrested. During their interrogation, they exercised their right to remain silent. Police investigations continue, while authorities are looking for the stolen property and searches are expected to be carried out in specific areas.
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A 53-year-old man was arrested by members of the Limassol Police Department, in connection with an investigated case involving the offenses of internet fraud and extortion of money with false representations.
Specifically, a 53-year-old man who was wanted by the Police on the basis of a national and European arrest warrant for an investigated case of online fraud and extortion of a sum of money, was located in Belgium last April and arrested. Following a court proceeding, his extradition was approved to the Cypriot authorities and he was transported accompanied by members of the Limassol Police Department, early this morning.
The fraud was committed in November 2017, against a company based in Limassol. According to the complaint, the company in question proceeded to order products from a company based in a European country, paying a sum of money in excess of €65,000 to a banking institution indicated to it via e-mail. As it was later established, there was a violation of the communication between the two companies, as a result of which the amount of money was sent to a foreign bank account.
From the examinations that followed, evidence emerged against the 53-year-old. He is expected to appear today before the Limassol District Court for the purpose of issuing a detention order. The TAE Limassol continues the examinations.
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He rejected all 16 charges faced by the 28-year-old defendant, who is said to be behind the barrage of criminal actions against Limassol businessmen in the last six months.
The 28-year-old appeared before the Limassol Permanent Criminal Court, where he was charged with the charges he faces, denying guilt in all of them. The Court set the case for a hearing next September, while the accused returned to the Central Prison, where he remains on trial.
The 28-year-old faces, among other charges, conspiracy to commit a felony, arson, malicious damage, burglary of a building, possession of explosives and illegal possession of a controlled drug.
Specifically, the charges relate to the arson of a car wash committed on December 8, 2025, owned by Russian businessmen, in which two luxury vehicles were destroyed, the arson of a liquor store owned by a 40-year-old Russian businessman, friend and associate of the murdered Stavros Demosthenous, as well as the arson of a luxury vehicle showroom, owned by two other Russian businessmen, on January 25, 2026.
At the same time, he is facing seven charges related to malicious damage to luxury vehicles, the value of which exceeds half a million euros, as well as charges of malicious damage to six paintings and seven statues with a total value of €144,000 in the luxury vehicle showroom.
As filenews had written in previous publications, behind the criminal actions there seem to be motives related to demanding sums of money from businessmen, under threats, in order to provide "protection". In fact, in cases of refusal, malicious actions allegedly followed, such as arson of property, with the aim of intimidating and exerting pressure on the victims.
According to the facts of the case, the investigators of the TAE Limassol reached the trail of the 28-year-old after the last arson committed on January 25, 2026. As determined by closed surveillance circuits, shortly before the arson, an SUV-type vehicle approached the scene. Immediately after the fire broke out and before the perpetrator returned to the vehicle, the car's headlights came on. The perpetrator then boarded the SUV, which sped away from the area.
From the study of dozens of closed circuit surveillance, the route of the vehicle from Limassol to Nicosia and vice versa was identified. The vehicle was then located outside a specific premises in the area of Nicosia, where the 28-year-old defendant boarded it.
Other persons had been arrested in connection with the case as part of the investigations, however, sufficient evidence did not emerge to justify their criminal prosecution.
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The Court of Appeal rejected a man's appeal against the seven-month prison sentence imposed on him by the Larnaca District Court for possession of burglary instruments, upholding the first instance decision in its entirety. The appellant had pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of burglary instruments, unlawful possession of property reasonably suspected to be stolen and carrying knives outside the home. The court of first instance imposed prison sentences of seven months, one month and two months respectively, which were ordered to be concurrent.
The offenses were committed on April 22, 2024, when members of the Police, after receiving information about a suspicious person outside a residence, spotted the accused carrying three bags. In a subsequent search, burglary tools were found, as well as various items with a total value of €322, for which insufficient explanations were given as to their origin. Three opening knives were also found in his possession.
In the context of the sentencing, four other cases were taken into account, two of which concerned drug offenses. At the same time, the court had before it previous convictions of the accused for similar offenses.
The appeal argued that the sentence was excessive and violated the principles of leniency, proportionality and the totality of the sentence. The defence argued that the offences in the present case had been committed before the appellant was subsequently convicted in another case, for which he had been sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment, thus depriving him of the possibility of taking all the cases together into account in the imposition of the sentence.
The Court of Appeal held that the court of first instance had thoroughly examined this issue and had already taken into account in the benefit of the accused the fact that some of the cases could have been taken into account in his previous conviction. According to the decision, the first-instance judge exercised "all possible leniency" and imposed a sentence that moves within the permissible limits.
The Court of Appeal stressed that it did not find any legal or judicial error or element of exaggeration in the sentence imposed. On the contrary, it noted that the appellant's history of delinquency could possibly justify even stricter treatment.
The claim that there was a material irregularity because a report on socio-economic and personal circumstances had not been prepared by the Welfare Office prior to the imposition of the sentence was also rejected. The Court of Appeal held that the court of first instance had at its disposal all the necessary information about the personal circumstances of the accused and that this case did not belong to the cases where the existence of such a report was mandatory.
As a result, the appeal was dismissed in its entirety and the first-instance decision was upheld.
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A lawsuit against the Attorney General of the Republic and the Minister of Interior in his capacity as Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties was dismissed on Thursday, June 25, 2026, by the Court of Appeal in relation to a large area of Turkish Cypriot property (125 pieces) in the province of Paphos, in part of which Paphos International Airport has been erected, the "Andreas Papandreou" Air Base, a self-housing settlement and plots have been given for agricultural crops to Greek Cypriot refugees.
The applicants, i.e. Turkish Cypriot owners and heirs and a Greek Cypriot administrator, requested from the Court (a) the issuance of a decree for the delivery of the property, and a number of damages amounting to approximately €41 million, such as, inter alia, (b) compensation for illegal intervention by the Republic of Cyprus in the property and/or for rent, (c) compensation for violation of human and constitutional rights, (d) punitive damages and (e) other individual amounts for each appellant monthly until the delivery of free possession of the disputed property.
The case was heard at first instance by the Paphos District Court in 2022, which dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that no illegal interference on the part of the Republic and violation of the plaintiffs' human rights has been proven, and that the Guardian rightly decided not to allow the return of the property and its transfer to the Greek Cypriot administrator since, as it turned out, there was another heir, who was not disclosed and was not among the applicants for the return of the property when their request for the release of the property was examined by the Guardian.
The intention of the applicants was to sell all the disputed property to the Greek Cypriot administrator, on the basis of an agreement made between them, without disclosing the existence and consent of the other heir.
Hearing the case, the Court of Appeal held that the Guardian was right to reject the request for the sale of all the property in question and rightly, during the examination of the request, took into account the residence of the deceased and the heirs as well as the existence of another heir who was not disclosed by the administrator. It is a matter of responsibility of the Guardian, who is responsible for the management and protection of all the rights arising from the property he manages and has all the powers that the owner has, to take care of and control, the Court of Appeal emphasizes in its decision.
The position of the Court of Appeal regarding the various claims of the applicants is also interesting, which it rejected. In particular,
1. In response to the applicants' claim that the deceased were expelled from their property in the areas controlled by the Republic, the Court of Appeal emphatically emphasizes: "We do not accept this allegation [since] in 1974, as is well known, there was a regulation where movement was not mandatory for everyone, but at the choice of each citizen, hence some Turkish Cypriots live after 1974 in the free areas, without having been expelled or forced by the Republic of Cyprus to leave their properties or residence from the non-occupied part of the country".
2. Regarding the allegation of illegal intervention by the Republic, through the Guardian, in the property of the Turkish Cypriots, the Court of Appeal, after noting that the applicants failed to prove the allegation, emphasizes: "Although there is an intervention in the occupation, the unstable situation declared by the Republic of Cyprus [due to the Turkish invasion and occupation] continues to exist, therefore the intervention is legal, based on the power of the Guardian by the provisions of the legislation [...] All the appellants were and are Cypriot citizens, Turkish Cypriots, who do not have their legal residence in the areas controlled by the Republic. Therefore, their property, as Turkish Cypriot, located in the areas controlled by the Republic was correctly and legally placed under the guardianship of the Guardian."
3. In relation to the allegation of violation of human rights, the Court of Appeal held that once it was proven that there was another heir for whom no reference had been made in the application for approval of the sale of the disputed property, the Guardian had an obligation to make sure that if he approved the transfer, the right of an heir to the property would not be violated since the applicants' request was approval of the sale of all the disputed property.
Dismissing the appeal in its entirety, the Court of Appeal ordered the plaintiffs to pay costs in favor of the Republic.
On behalf of the Attorney General of the Republic, the case was handled by the Senior Lawyer of the Republic, Ms. Elli Florentzou.
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The Administrative Court of Appeal rejected the interim application of the communities of Mitsero, Agrokipia, Agios Ioannis Nicosia, Kato Moni, Aredio, Menoikou, Malounta and Orounta, for the suspension of the execution of a planning permit for the creation and operation of an asphalt concrete production unit from the residential area of Dali in an area near the community of Mitsero, until the hearing of the relevant pending appeal.
Previously, the Administrative Court had rejected the appeal of the above eight Community Councils and had validated the granted planning permit.
The Court of Appeal, in the decision of the majority of the Judges, examined the merits of the application and concluded that, in the present case, neither obvious illegality is established nor irreparable damage, e.g. in terms of the environment and public health, as was the claim of the communities.
At the same time, with the minority decision of the Court of Appeal, the position was adopted that the application had no procedural basis and should be rejected.
The Administrative Court of Appeal also instructed the parties for a short hearing of the appeal.
On behalf of the Attorney General of the Republic, the case was handled by the Senior Advocate of the Republic, Ms. Theodora Piperi-Christodoulou, and the Attorney at Law of the Republic, Mr. Thasos Hadjilouka.
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in-cyprus
A Cyprus court has overturned the Asylum Service’s rejection of a Sierra Leone woman’s application for international protection and recognised her as a refugee, after hearing testimony that she had been forced into marriage at 17, subjected to domestic and sexual violence, and had suffered female genital mutilation.
Judge Elena Riga of the International Protection Administrative Court ruled that the woman’s claims were credible and that the conditions for refugee recognition under Article 3 of the Refugee Law had been met.
The woman left Sierra Leone on February 18, 2021, and entered government-controlled areas of Cyprus irregularly through the occupied north the following day. She submitted her application for international protection on July 15, 2021. The Asylum Service rejected her application and ordered her return to Sierra Leone.
She appealed through her lawyer, G. Konstantinou of the M. Papaloizou law firm, arguing that her application had not been properly or adequately examined.
In her testimony, the woman said she had been forced into marriage and was a victim of domestic and sexual violence at the hands of her husband. She also described psychological and emotional abuse by his other wives and their children, saying she had lived as a slave. She told the court she had miscarried after her husband beat her because she had not washed the dishes.
She said she had been unable to report her husband to authorities in Sierra Leone because of threats from him and his associates, her young age, and the absence of any safe shelter or support structure she could turn to.
Her lawyer argued that the Asylum Service had also failed to examine whether the woman had undergone female genital mutilation and whether she faced a risk of being subjected to the practice again if returned to Sierra Leone. On the question of why she had not sought a divorce in her country of origin, her lawyer said customary law in Sierra Leone significantly restricts or discourages the dissolution of marriage, and that the woman had remained under threat with no alternative place to live.
The Asylum Service’s lawyer argued that even if the woman’s claims were accepted as credible, her fear fell within the scope of a private dispute and was not connected to any of the grounds for persecution listed under Article 3(1) of the Refugee Law. The service further contended that the fear she described did not meet the objective threshold required for refugee recognition.
The court, having examined the woman’s testimony, the positions of both sides, and relevant international reports, found that the conditions for refugee recognition under Article 3 of the Refugee Law had been met and annulled the Asylum Service’s decision.
American businessman Ibrahim Hilmi, who is accused of devising a scheme to defraud over $3.7 billion from Medicare, the United States government-funded health insurance programme that supports elderly and disabled people, was arrested in Kyrenia and brought to America earlier this week, according to the justice department.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that Hilmi, 58, “is charged with one of the biggest Medicare scams in history” and has been brought to Miami, Florida, following a foreign transfer of custody. Hilmi fled the United States in May 2025.
In a statement, Patel credited the Miami branch of the FBI, the US justice department and “partners in Turkey” for apprehending Hilmi. He also thanked US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, saying “this case could not have been accomplished without his tireless work.”
It is not clear what role officials in the occupied north of Cyprus played in the apprehension.
According to the justice department, Hilmi made an initial appearance in a Florida court on Monday.
Hilmi, who was a resident of Miami-Dade County, Florida, is charged with health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and two counts of money laundering in a grand jury indictment dated June 11, 2026.
The grand jury indictment alleges that Hilmi ran two fake healthcare companies, ABRH Care and Sunshine Senior Solutions, that operated as “shell companies that existed for the sole purpose of fraudulently billing Medicare” and other healthcare entities.
Starting in December 2024, Hilmi’s fraudulent companies are alleged to have submitted tens of thousands of claims, totalling billions of dollars, for reimbursements from insurers for durable medical equipment, including urinary catheters and wound dressings “that never existed.”
The indictment notes many of those who used the fraudulent companies to submit claims were “foreign actors” who stole the identities of legitimate medical providers.
According to the indictment, most of the claims submitted by the two fraudulent companies were not actually paid and “held in suspension,” which can occur when fraud is suspected, but around $5.7 million was deposited successfully into the companies’ bank accounts.
Millions of dollars were then transferred to shell companies located abroad, the indictment says.
It adds that the fraudulent companies “provided no services to customers and served no legitimate business purpose.”
Hilmi’s arrest is part of Operation Gold Rush, a federal effort to crack down on transnational organised crime networks that defraud Medicare.
US Vice President JD Vance, who is chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, also celebrated the arrest in a social media post.
“If you steal from the American people, there will be no safe harbour for your anywhere in the world,” Vance wrote.
