Pafos Live 23 June 2026
A new quantity of opiate drugs with a total weight of eight kilograms was found yesterday in Limassol, after collecting and evaluating information. To facilitate the investigations, a 30-year-old man was arrested.
Specifically, members of YKAN yesterday carried out an inspection of a suspicious package which was found in a courier company in Limassol. During the investigation, 40 nylon packages were found within the package in question, which contained a number of dried poppy pods of the fungal or sleepy plant, with a total gross weight of eight kilograms.
The 30-year-old was arrested on the basis of a court warrant and taken into custody, while he is expected to appear today before the Limassol District Court for the procedure for issuing a detention order.
In recent days, more than 30 kilograms of such drugs have been seized and seven people have been arrested in Nicosia and Limassol, who are in custody. Tests for the detection of such drugs continue by YKAN.
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Pafos Press
The Police in Limassol are investigating a case of drunkenness, assault and public insult of a police officer.
According to the Police, at around 9:40 in the morning, information was received about a woman who was intoxicated in the middle of the road.
A patrol went to the scene and found a woman with obvious signs of intoxication sitting on the sidewalk, with her feet on the roadway. When they approached her, she did not seem to understand and was taken to the Department for questioning.
Subsequently, the 40-year-old at the police station began shouting and cursing in English, while during the authorities' attempt to calm her down, she attacked a police officer, pushed him and bit him on the hand.
It should be noted that the 40-year-old was arrested and taken into custody.
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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 police operations, four persons were arrested for offenses such as, illegal stay in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, committing traffic offenses, etc.
As part of these operations, during the night, 398 drivers and 133 passengers were stopped and checked. At the same time, 42 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency, where six complaints emerged.
During traffic checks carried out, 247 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while 14 investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged.
Of the complaints made, 65 driver complaints for exceeding the speed limit stand out, while as part of the police examinations, 7 vehicles were detained.
91 alcohol tests were carried out, without any positive result, while two drivers were found positive in preliminary drug tests.
Policing operations, for the prevention and suppression of crime, continue daily, with an increased/enhanced police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action, with the aim of increasing the sense of security of citizens/protecting citizens and ensuring public order.
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The Police made a third arrest for a case of drugs with a quantity of more than 6 kilograms in the province of Famagusta.
As part of the investigation of a case of locating and confiscating six kilograms and 373 grams of cannabis resin and one kilogram of synthetic cannabis powder (a substance known as KIEF), the Police proceeded yesterday to arrest another person.
He is a 37-year-old man, who was arrested by virtue of a court warrant.
The 37-year-old is expected to be brought before the Famagusta District Court today, for the issuance of a detention order.
It is noted that, for the same case, two other persons are already under eight-day detention.
YKAN (Famagusta Unit) continues the examinations.
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A new quantity of opiate drugs, with a gross weight of one kilogram, was located and confiscated by the Anti-Drug Service - YKAN, which proceeded to arrest a 35-year-old man who was in custody for another 10 kg drug case.
The new quantity of drugs, consisting of dried poppy pods, of the kind of length or sleepy, with a total gross weight of one kilogram, was found yesterday 22/06/2026, in a postal package that arrived at the premises of a courier company, in the province of Nicosia. The recipient was listed as the 35-year-old who was arrested by virtue of a court warrant.
The 35-year-old has been in custody since 19/06/2026, as part of the investigation of a drug trafficking case, which concerns the detection and seizure of a quantity of opiate drugs, with a gross weight of more than 10 kg. A 31-year-old woman is also in custody for the same case.
YKAN (Nicosia District Unit) continues the examinations.
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A package that passed through Larnaca airport with painting items as a "showcase" ultimately contained eight kilograms of dried poppy pods, with YKAN Limassol investigating a possible network with five more suspicious shipments from the same person and his associates.
For the case, a 30-year-old Indian man was arrested and brought before the Limassol Court today. The Court approved YKAN's request and ordered the detention for a period of eight days.
According to the data under investigation, the suspicious package arrived in Cyprus on June 19 and was transported to the premises of a courier company in Limassol. Investigators are examining whether five more packages were imported into the Republic in the same way, which are allegedly linked to the same phone number listed as the recipient's information.
The case began to unfold on June 22, when members of YKAN Limassol went to the premises of a courier company in Ypsonas, following information about a suspicious package. During the check, a cardboard box was found, the sender's details of which were identical to those of other parcels that had been found in a recent operation of YKAN.
From the physical examination of the contents, it was found that the box contained 40 nylon packages with dried poppy pods of the plant Longhorn or sleepy, with a total weight of about 8 kg.
The tests that followed revealed that the mobile phone number listed on the recipient's details belongs to the 30-year-old suspect. In contrast, the recipient's name did not correspond to any person registered in the Police records.
As part of the examinations, approval was secured for controlled delivery of the package. An undercover police officer contacted the number on the parcel by phone, with the holder claiming that he had not ordered any package nor was he expecting a shipment from the courier company. However, he confirmed that he resides at the address indicated on the recipient's details.
At the same time, members of YKAN had discreetly monitored both the house and the suspect's movements. The 30-year-old was spotted moving with his vehicle on the coastal road of Limassol and was stopped near the entrance of the Old Port.
From the searches carried out on the vehicle and on him, nothing illegal was found. However, two mobile phones belonging to other persons were found in his possession and were taken for scientific examinations.
According to investigators, one of them bore the phone number listed as the recipient's contact information on the parcel in question.
The 30-year-old was then summoned to the offices of YKAN Limassol, where an arrest warrant was obtained against him and he was taken into custody. During his written interrogation, he denied any involvement in the case, making allegations that are being investigated.
The examinations are in full swing, with investigators expected to take a total of 22 statements from persons in the suspect's professional, friendly and social environment. At the same time, previous shipments of parcels of similar description and weight are being investigated, as well as the possible involvement of other persons in the case.
At the same time, closed circuit monitoring circuits are being sought that may have recorded previous parcel deliveries, while all items have been sent or are expected to be sent to the competent laboratories of the State and the Police for scientific examinations.
In addition, the authorities are expected to secure a court order for access to the contents of the seized mobile phones
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No white smoke came out yesterday regarding the detention of the 44-year-old businessman from Larnaca, who is accused in a case of extorting tens of thousands of euros from an elderly man, along with a 42-year-old businessman from Nicosia, a 49-year-old undertrial and a 45-year-old woman.
The four defendants were referred last Friday to a direct trial before the Permanent Criminal Court of Larnaca, which will meet on August 3. The representative of the Prosecuting Authority had requested that, in addition to the defendant, the 44-year-old remain in custody. His lawyer, Antonis Dimitriou, objected to his detention and the procedure was set for yesterday. Mr. Dimitriou, in his speech, spoke of unequal treatment of his client, leaving spikes for the handling of the Police.
As he claimed, the claims of the defendant that he and the 77-year-old travelled to the Netherlands, Germany and Ukraine and that in the Netherlands they lived together at the house of the 49-year-old's sister were not investigated. He also claimed that the 45-year-old, who is accused of collaborating with the defendant to extort thousands of euros from the 77-year-old, claimed in her testimony that she never spoke with the defendants and that the elderly man harassed her. The court decided that it will announce its decision, on whether or not the 44-year-old will remain in custody, today at 10:00 in the morning.
It is noted that all the defendants face very serious charges concerning, among other things, money laundering, participation in a criminal organization, conspiracy to commit a felony, extortion, threat of violence and deprivation of personal liberty and unjust restriction. The indictment, who is accused of torturing citizens in an illegal casino in Pyla, as well as the January 17 shootings in the center of Larnaca, is in custody, while at least until tomorrow the businessman will stay. The other two defendants, namely the 42-year-old businessman from Nicosia and the 45-year-old, were released, on parole. It is recalled that the defendants were arrested after a 77-year-old man complained that between 2021 and 2024 they extorted large sums of money from him. According to the pensioner's complaint, it all started when, together with his son-in-law, they sold two properties in Pyla worth €3 million in a company, whose director is the 42-year-old businessman from Nicosia, who worked in the past for naturalization cases. A little later, the 44-year-old businessman from Larnaca is said to have been involved in the case.
According to the pensioner, the 44-year-old, together with the 49-year-old indictment, among other things, persuaded him to become their partner in a betting agency and in this way extorted a total of €49.000 from him. The indictment, meanwhile, allegedly collaborated with the 45-year-old and extorted over €150.000 from the pensioner. As far as the businessman from Nicosia is concerned, he allegedly pressured the complainant, with the help of the others, to change the agreement for the sale of the properties.
Update - The Larnaca District Court decided today (23/6), after a three-day long process, that the 44-year-old businessman from Larnaca, who is accused in a case of extorting tens of thousands of euros from an elderly man, together with a 42-year-old businessman from Nicosia, a 49-year-old undertrial and a 45-year-old woman, remain in custody until their trial.
The four defendants were referred last Friday to a direct trial before the Permanent Criminal Court of Larnaca, which will meet on August 3. For the detention or not of the businessman in question, who is also accused in a case of alleged influence on a witness for the January 17 shootings, a legal battle was fought, after his lawyer, Antonis Dimitriou, had objected to his detention.
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He arrived in Cyprus in October 2022 as an unaccompanied minor to escape, as claimed by his relatives in Cameroon who mistreated him and wanted to sacrifice him in a ritual for money. His claims were not believed either by the Asylum Service or later by the Court, to which he appealed.
The young Cameroonian, 19 years old today, came through occupied territories to the free areas on 19/10/2022 and applied for international protection. This was examined and rejected as unfounded, because in an interview he was called, it was judged that he did not give convincing answers to substantiate his claims. Through a representative of the Commissioner for the Protection of Children's Rights, he filed an appeal with the Administrative Court of International Protection, requesting the annulment of the decision not to recognize him as a refugee.
In an interview to examine his application for international protection, the applicant stated that his parents died in a car accident in 2020 and he then went to live with his aunt and grandmother. They mistreated him and he went to his uncle who treated him properly but then realized that he wanted to sacrifice him for money.
His allegations were not substantiated, he had not given details about how the car accident happened, he did not hold a death certificate of his parents, while he did not give details of the reasons for the abuse nor did he describe an incident in detail. As for his uncle, he again did not give details about his claims of sacrifice, nor about the fact that he saw a room with human parts and a photo of his uncle at home.
It was the Court's decision that the vulnerabilities of the applicant's narrative remain and therefore none of his claims are accepted, as the many and significant deficiencies in their internal coherence leave no room for their acceptance, given that nothing has been added to this in the context of the present judgment. "I therefore consider that the findings of the respondents on the reliability of the applicant's allegations were reasonable, the products of a proper investigation of all the evidence before them and correct on the merits."
The Court ruled that there is no well-founded fear of "persecution of the applicant on grounds of race, religion, nationality or membership of a particular social group or political opinions" and that there are no "substantial grounds for believing that, if he returns to his country of nationality, he will face a real risk of suffering serious harm".
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Animal products transported in violation of the Green Line Regulation, as well as tobacco products allegedly duty-free, were found by officials of the Customs Department at the Deryneia crossing point, on June 21 and 22.
On June 21, officials of the Customs Department carried out checks on three vehicles, which were driven by a Greek Cypriot woman and two foreigners. During the checks, animal products were identified, the transport of which violated the Green Line Regulation.
In the first case, 1.6 kg of yogurt and 500 ml of another dairy product were confiscated. In the second, 900 grams of salami, 900 grams of fresh chicken, 700 grams of cheese and 900 ml of a dairy product, were found. In the third case, 1.4 kilograms of yogurt, four liters of milk and 1.9 liters of another dairy product were confiscated.
The products were confiscated and the prescribed procedure for their destruction will be followed.
In a separate incident, on June 22, officials of the Customs Department located tobacco products carefully hidden on the sliding roof of a vehicle at the same crossing point.
The packages did not bear the prescribed warning sign for the harmful effects of smoking in Greek and Turkish, nor the safety feature and the unique traceability code, indications that they were duty-free products.
Nine boxes were found on the sliding roof, with 200 cigarettes each, as well as tobacco packs for a roll-up cigarette with a total weight of 225 grams.
The driver was arrested for flagrante delicto, while both the tobacco products and the vehicle were confiscated. He was then released, after his proposal for an out-of-court settlement and return of the vehicle was accepted, with the payment of a total amount of €720.
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The Permanent Criminal Court of Limassol imposed an immediate sentence of six years in prison today, Tuesday (23/6), on the accused psychologist who was found guilty after a hearing for the sexual abuse of a minor, who was visiting him as his patient.
The case, which was heard before the Criminal Court in a closed-door procedure, was based on the testimonies of witnesses and the complainant herself, with the court reaching findings of guilt in the four charges faced by the accused, underlining the abuse of the complainant's relationship of trust.
The four charges concern sexual abuse of a child in violation of articles 2, 6 (4)(a) and 14 of the Prevention and Combating of Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography Law (Law 91 (I)/2014) and Article 5 (a) of the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Related Issues Law (Law 115(I)/2021).
According to the facts of the case, the offenses concerned a minor, who at the time of their commission was about 17.5 years old and was being monitored by the accused as a psychologist.
As noted in the conviction, the accused, abusing the position of trust, power or influence he had towards the complainant, among other things, kissed her on the cheek and mouth, kissed her on the mouth and proceeded to a sexual act.
For the purpose of proving the case, the Prosecuting Authority called 9 prosecution witnesses and the accused, after being called to apologize, testified under oath and called three defense witnesses.
According to the court's findings, the meetings of the complainant with the accused took place in the latter's office, which was located inside his house. When the complainant started visiting him, she was closed to herself, lacked self-confidence at all, and relations with her family, especially with her father, were detached.
As a result of her meetings with the accused, the complainant gained self-confidence and her social relationships and performance at school improved.
The accused called her with various flattering expressions, had confided in her his personal experiences and had bought 2-3 paintings that she prepared herself. The complainant saw him as her saviour and admired him. In one of the sessions, a few months before the incident in question, the complainant told him how she likes older men.
The defendant knew that the complainant had not had sexual contacts before and told her that at her age, it was normal for her to have sex. He also told her that she should dress "sexy" and not be ashamed.
A day before the incident in question at a scheduled session, the accused asked the complainant if he wanted him to teach her how to kiss and perform sexual acts. The complainant asked him "how" and he did not answer. The complainant, although she felt uncomfortable, thought that this would be done for her own good, since the accused kept telling her that he wanted to make her a "woman" and behave like a normal "woman". During the same session, at the suggestion of the accused, a meeting was arranged between them the next day in order for the complainant to go to his house to paint a wall.
The next day, the accused picked up the complainant from her house and they went, after some stops, to his house. On the way, the accused made a reference to women and the commission of sexual acts.
When they arrived, the accused told the complainant to wait for him at the bottom of his house and before he went upstairs he said "give me a kiss", he kissed her first on the cheek and then on the mouth while he was naked from the waist up.
Then, after the accused finished an online appointment he had, he invited the complainant to go to his office and showed her a video of pornographic content, which was projected on the screen of his computer. Among other things, the accused told her "come and do this to me too". The complainant froze and just did what he told her, and when she told the accused that she was shaking, he told her that it was because she was living an experience.
They then went to a store to buy brushes and paints and when they returned to the accused's house, while the complainant was watching a TV show on his computer, the defense witness called the defendant and told him that the mother of the counterfeiter was worried. Then he returned her home. On the way he told her not to tell anyone, saying that many people betrayed him and not to do it herself.
After two days, the complainant made a fragmentary report to the two prosecution witnesses, and then when she spoke with them she realized the true dimensions of what happened. She felt betrayed since she had told the accused that she wanted to live something that would make her strong and he acted in the way described above.
For the benefit of the Accused, his clean criminal record, his personal circumstances and especially his difficult childhood, as well as the effects that the Defendant's imprisonment will have on his family, were taken into account.
The Defendant was sentenced to concurrent sentences of 2 years in prison on charges no. 1 and 2, 3 years in category no. 3 and 6 years old in category no. 4. Furthermore, a decree was issued prohibiting the Accused, for 3 years after his release:
- To offer any services to children.
- To be employed or employed in places where children are or frequent.
- To live in an area that is adjacent to organized spaces where children live or frequent.
Furthermore, the Defendant was referred to the Supervisory Authority, established under Article 47 of the Law, throughout his detention in the Central Prison and for a period of 3 years, after his release.
