Man fined €11,000 for tobacco smuggling

A man arrested at Paphos airport for illegal possession of tobacco products was issued a hefty fine and released on Monday.

According to an announcement by the customs department, on Friday last week the man was found in possession of 549 50g packages of tobacco, 10 packs of 200 cigarettes, and three packs of 20 cigarettes. The packages did not meet criteria prescribed by law, such as labelling for harmful effects of smoking, safety feature and the unique traceability code.

The suspect allegedly admitted that he had bought and illegally imported the duty-free tobacco products from the north, for the purpose of transporting them to the United Kingdom. Police arrested the offender and confiscated the contraband.

The suspect appeared before the Paphos District Court on Saturday and was remanded for three days.

The case was settled out-of-court with the payment of €11,000 and abandonment of the confiscated tobacco products, and the man has been released.