Newsroom
A suitcase packed with 14,000 cigarettes was seized at Larnaca airport shortly before its owner was due to fly to the United Kingdom, the Customs Department said Thursday.
Customs officers stopped the 57-year-old Turkish Cypriot passenger on Sept. 2 after acting on information and searched his luggage.
Inside, they found 70 cartons, each containing 200 cigarettes, the equivalent of 700 standard packets, or almost two years’ supply for someone smoking a packet a day.
The cigarette packaging did not carry the required Greek- and Turkish-language health warnings. It was also missing the security markings and unique tracking codes used to identify legally imported tobacco products, indicating that the cigarettes may not have been taxed.
The passenger was arrested on the spot, while his luggage and its contents were confiscated.
He was later released after authorities accepted his request to settle the case out of court by paying €4,200.
The seized cigarettes will be destroyed in accordance with customs procedures.
