Cigarettes Worth 35,000 Euros Seized at Larnaca Airport: Attempt to Smuggle to the UK Foiled

A large consignment of duty-free cigarettes worth 35,000 euros was seized at Larnaca Airport in an attempt to smuggle them to the United Kingdom.

The incident occurred last Friday when the Customs Department of the Republic of Cyprus stopped three travelers who were attempting to fly to England. Two of them had Cypriot passports, and one had a British passport. During the inspection, authorities found 246 cartons, each containing 200 cigarettes, with a total weight of 13.85 kg.

Police reported that the cigarettes were likely purchased in Northern Cyprus (TRNC), where each pack costs around 2-2.5 euros. In contrast, the same pack in England costs 14.5 euros. It is estimated that the consignment would be worth at least 35,000 euros in the UK.

Additionally, the seized tobacco products did not have health warnings in Greek and Turkish, nor did they have the required safety markings and unique barcodes.

The three detained individuals paid a fine of 20,000 euros as part of a pre-trial settlement with the Customs Department and were subsequently released. This is not the first time the Customs Department has dealt with similar cases. Several attempts to smuggle tobacco products from Cyprus to England have been thwarted since the beginning of the summer.