Customs officials and police have uncovered a major tobacco smuggling operation in southern Nicosia, seizing untaxed tobacco products with unpaid duties totalling €217,284, authorities said.
Two Greek Cypriots, aged 43 and 23, were arrested on January 22 after officers discovered illegal tobacco products in their vehicles during a coordinated operation. The suspects, who have previous records for similar offences, will appear before Nicosia District Court today.
A subsequent search of premises managed by the suspects revealed a hidden cache of tobacco products behind a wall.
The operation then led officers to a second location, where they discovered a buried shipping container concealed beneath a bird cage with a specially designed access mechanism.
The total seizure included more than 2,674 cartons of cigarettes, 1,475 cartons of heated tobacco products, approximately 96 kilogrammes of rolling tobacco, and 273 kilogrammes of water pipe tobacco.
None of the products bore mandatory health warnings in Greek and Turkish or required safety features and traceability codes, indicating they were untaxed.
Both vehicles used to transport the illegal goods were confiscated as part of the operation, which resulted from intelligence gathering by customs officials and Nicosia’s Drug Law Enforcement unit (YKAN).
