Police arrested a 56-year-old man in Nicosia district in connection with an investigation into alleged facilitation of the illegal entry, transit and stay of third-country nationals in the Republic.
The case is being investigated by Pera Chorio police station.
At around 8.50pm on Friday, officers from the Mobile Immediate Action Unit who were on patrol in the Dali-Lympia-Athienou area noticed a car being driven from the buffer zone towards the government-controlled areas of the Republic.
Police said the 56-year-old driver failed to stop for a check and continued driving before officers intercepted him in the Alambra area.
The suspect then allegedly tried to escape again and crashed his car into a police patrol vehicle, causing the vehicle to stop at the scene.
A subsequent check found four other people in the car: two women aged 32 and 29, and two minors aged 10 and 16. All were third-country nationals.
According to police, the 56-year-old allegedly told officers he had transported them from the occupied areas to the government-controlled areas of the Republic.
Police arrested the 56-year-old for offences detected in the act. He appeared before Nicosia district court on Saturday morning, which ordered that he be remanded for six days to facilitate police investigations.
The two women and two minors were taken to the reception centre in Kokkinotrimithia.
