A man and woman were sentenced to 11 and 2.5 years in prison on Tuesday by the Larnaca district court after being found with 17.6kg of cannabis at Larnaca airport in June.

The 66-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman, from Italy, who travelled from Spain were arrested at Larnaca airport when the drugs were found in their luggage at baggage control.

They were found guilty of illegally importing and possession of drugs, as well as possession of drugs with intent to supply.

At the time of their arrest, head of the police drugs squad (Ykan) Christos Andreou said profits generated from drug smuggling are enormous. “So traffickers keep coming back with new methods and new tactics.”

According to Ykan, Cyprus investigated over 1,000 drug-related cases annually in recent years with 1,095 in 2023 and 1,075 in 2024.