Newsroom
Authorities in Cyprus have made a series of eyebrow-raising discoveries in recent days, seizing large quantities of untaxed tobacco—one of which was found in an unexpected and highly unusual location: a daycare nursery.
The Customs Department, acting on intelligence, raided a warehouse inside a nursery in Egkomi on January 27. What they found was far from crayons and storybooks—officers uncovered a stash of illicit tobacco, including six cartons of cigarettes, 58 cartons of heated cigarettes, over five and a half kilograms of rolling tobacco, and 250 grams of hookah tobacco. None of the products carried the required health warnings in Greek and Turkish, nor the necessary security features, confirming that they had evaded taxation.
The owner of the warehouse was arrested on the spot but later walked free after settling the offense with a €5,000 out-of-court payment.
A Tobacco Trafficking Trail
The Egkomi case was just one piece of a much larger operation. A few days later, on February 3, customs officers—this time working with Nicosia’s crime prevention unit—searched a warehouse in Strovolos. The haul was significantly larger: 340 cartons of cigarettes, 44 cartons of heated cigarettes, and nearly eight kilograms of rolling tobacco. Officers then searched the suspect’s car, finding an additional 74 cartons of cigarettes, 86 cartons of heated cigarettes, and nearly two kilograms of tobacco. Even his home wasn’t off-limits—there, officials seized another four and a half kilograms of rolling tobacco.
For the right price, however, the suspect managed to settle things out of court. He forked over €39,000 for the offenses and another €1,000 to reclaim his seized vehicle.
Later that same day, a second suspect—a 54-year-old man and the warehouse’s owner—was arrested after a search of his home in the same apartment block turned up 22 more cartons of cigarettes, one carton of heated cigarettes, and over three kilograms of rolling tobacco. His penalty? A €4,000 out-of-court payment.
The Biggest Bust Yet
Just when officials thought they had seen it all, the biggest bust of the operation took place on February 4. Customs officers, following yet another tip-off, searched a parked vehicle in a village south of Nicosia. The driver, a 68-year-old man already known to authorities, was caught with a staggering 700 cartons of cigarettes, 101 cartons of heated cigarettes, and more than 14 kilograms of rolling tobacco.
Like the others, none of the products bore the required markings, proving they were smuggled goods. His vehicle was seized as evidence, and he was arrested. However, following what has now become a pattern, he too was released after agreeing to an out-of-court settlement and a separate payment for his vehicle’s return.
A Growing Black Market Problem
While these out-of-court settlements help recover lost tax revenue, the sheer volume of illegal tobacco products seized in just over a week points to a well-established smuggling network operating across Cyprus. The fact that some of these products were stashed in a kindergarten warehouse raises even more questions about how far these operations extend.
For now, customs officials remain on high alert, but one thing is certain—where there’s a demand for cheap, untaxed tobacco, smugglers will keep looking for new and unexpected hiding spots.
