Newsroom
A 35-year-old woman from the United States was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison after admitting she tried to bring 35 kilograms of cannabis into Cyprus hidden in two suitcases.
The Larnaca Permanent Criminal Court handed down the sentence, stressing that cases involving large drug shipments are becoming increasingly common and require tough penalties to deter would-be traffickers.
The woman was arrested on April 4 after landing at Larnaca Airport on a flight from Barcelona. Customs officers, working with the Drug Enforcement Agency, checked her luggage and found 61 packages of dried cannabis tucked inside two bags.
Police said she confessed on the spot, telling investigators she had been recruited through a social media app. According to her statement, she was originally traveling from the US to France when “unknown persons offered to pay for her vacation and give her €1,000 to transport two suitcases to Cyprus.”
She also told authorities she “did not know to whom she would deliver the drugs in Cyprus and how she would receive instructions after arriving in Cyprus.”
Investigators say the case fits a growing pattern: drug networks luring couriers through online platforms with promises of easy money and paid travel. The court highlighted this trend in its ruling, noting the increasing frequency of such operations reaching Cyprus.
Officials said the severity of the sentence reflects both the scale of the shipment and the need to send a clear message that Cyprus won’t go easy on drug trafficking.
