An unprecedented record of seizures of drugs and other illegal substances by the Police Drug Enforcement Agency (YKAN) has been recorded in recent months, according to an exclusive report by Michalis Hadjivasilis last Friday in Phileleftheros. Specifically, in the first quarter of 2026, 250 kilograms of cannabis and 64 kilograms of cocaine were seized, while in all of 2025, 800 kilograms of cannabis and 50 kilograms of cocaine were seized.
The report describes the latest operation by YKAN (Nicosia Unit), which took place on March 25 at the offices of a parcel delivery company. It involves a 40-year-old Greek Cypriot who was arrested as he received a package containing 550 grams of cocaine, concealed and sealed inside dietary supplement containers. The suspect was brought before the Nicosia District Court the following day, which ordered his detention for seven days.
Undoubtedly, this successful strike against drug traffickers was based on reliable intelligence the police had obtained in advance, likely from an informant within the criminal ring. Other forms of effective action by the police are based on… more personal details about the perpetrators.
The other day, a young man was arrested at Larnaca Airport after arousing the suspicion of police officers because… he was sweating profusely and wiping himself with a handkerchief from the moment he stepped off the plane. They searched his luggage and found nylon bags containing dozens of grams of cocaine in a box of sweets. During questioning, he even admitted that he had two more nylon bags in his system containing the same amount of cocaine, which he… expelled at the hospital.
The ability to “read” body language is clearly important, as it is one of the most powerful tools in the fight against crime. A man wiping sweat from his brow while standing in line for passport control is, to the… uninitiated, simply a man getting hot. To the initiated, he is a potential “drug mule” sweating bullets, unable to hide his nervousness at the thought that they will see right through him and arrest him.
I don’t know how often police officers suspect the wrong person and subject them to questioning, only to find in the end that he’s sweating and getting flustered for the… right reasons and that he isn’t a “drug mule.”
I realise, however, that they are forced to deal with the dark force of suspicion, where nothing is self-evident and nothing is obvious—it might look like a… legal candy or a vitamin supplement on the outside, but contain illegal white powder on the inside…
And in these cases, of course, they rely on information to arrest someone. Except that it’s not provided by a police informant, but by the perpetrator himself…
