Man killed execution style in Ayia Napa

A foreign national who was employed at a local nightclub in Ayia Napa was murdered Thursday night, with police saying his killers shot him in the head twice after he tried to escape his car.

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The victim, who was described in media reports as a 33-year-old male holding a French passport, was driving along the Ayia Napa – Paralimni road where later his car was spotted by a woman about a kilometre away from a roundabout.

The woman notified police around 10:15pm to report that she believed there had been an accident. She could not see anyone inside the vehicle but the lights were turned on and the engine was still running, according to reports.

Cops who went to investigate noticed there was a bullet lodged in the passenger seat and the window was broken by what appeared to be a gunshot. The area was cordoned off and cops searched the area.

Around 11:50pm they located the body inside an area with thick shrubbery and acacia trees, some 150 metres away from his vehicle. The man had two gunshot wounds to the head while reports also said he sustained injuries in other parts of his body. 

The victim was known to authorities for cases involving drug trafficking and drug possession, while some reports suggested he was also linked to witnesses in a previous mafia killing in Ayia Napa. There was no immediate confirmation from authorites that there might be any connection between the two killings, but police said they have some preliminary findings regarding Friday's murder.

Authorities have closed down all highway lanes in the area, in both directions, starting from the Ayia Napa roundabout until the Olympic hotel exit, urging through-traffic drivers to use access roads in nearby villages.