Authorities have expressed increasing concern about the frequency of tobacco smuggling over the past year, both by foreign visitors and residents of the government-controlled areas, crossing over to the occupied north.
In yet another case, a British man about to depart from the UK, was caught at Paphos airport with a large amount of tobacco products illegally purchased in the occupied territories during his holiday.
Following a tip off, customs discovered and confiscated 135 cartons of 200 cigarettes each, 4 packets of 20 cigarettes and 500 grams of loose tobacco from the man’s luggage.
The products did not carry the appropriate warning label on the harmful effects of smoking in Greek and Turkish, nor the security feature and the unique traceability code.
The man was subsequently arrested and remanded in custody for four days by the district court in Paphos, over violations of the green line regulation.
Last month saw a major case in tobacco smuggling with a Greek-Cypriot man trying to push through hundreds of cigarette cartons from the Ayios Dhometios checkpoint in the boot of his car.
