The British bases court in Dhekelia on Wednesday announced it had handed an eight-month prison sentence to a Greek Cypriot man who was arrested over the possession of cocaine and cannabis in the Ayios Nikolaos area in October.

“The sentence demonstrates that we will bring those that are involved in drug dealing to justice and our efforts will not stop,” bases police superintendent Dinos Petrou said.

The 47-year-old had been arrested in possession of 2.5g of cocaine and 100g of cannabis and for wilfully destroying evidence in the form of cannabis.

He was found guilty to all charges on June 20.

The man had been held in custody before appearing before the court, while the bases police continued investigating the case.

Petrou said the sentence sent out a strong message to those involved in this type of crime.