Suspects found with 95,000 firecrackers plead not guilty

Three men pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession and transport of explosives on Thursday at the Paphos criminal court.

They had been arrested after police officers found them unloading boxes containing over 95,000 firecrackers near the Tzelefos Venetian Bridge last week.

The operation was carried out by members of the Ykan drug squad. Officers spotted two cars in a secluded area and saw the three men, aged 23, 31 and 34, unloading suspicious boxes from their trunks.

It later emerged that the boxes contained illegal firecrackers. Around 77,000 were stashed in one car, while the remaining ones were found in the second vehicle.

Police also discovered the 34-year-old had a bag containing over €3,000 in cash. None of the three people could provide the police with an adequate explanation of their origin.

The trial is set to continue on June 19.

Further examinations by police pyrotechnicians revealed that these were factory-made cylindrical paper firecrackers.