A total of 24 kilograms’ worth of various cannabis-based products were found and intercepted by officers from the customs department and the police in a shipment of packages which arrived at Larnaca airport, the customs department said on Sunday.

The two packages had arrived from “another European Union member state”, with the department saying that they had “a suspicious sender and recipient”, and that the contents had been labelled as “souvenirs”.

A check of the packages’ contents turned up what the department described as “1,600 pieces of various types of products”, including “tea, coffee, chewing gum, jelly, cigarette filters, electronic cigarettes, and roll-up cigarettes”, containing “cannabis or other cannabinoid-like synthetic chemicals”.

In total, it said, the packages weighed 24kg.

A subsequent investigation into the matter led the police to a 31-year-old man, the alleged planned recipient of the packages, and a 23-year-old woman, who worked at the premises in Cyprus at which it is believed the products were to be sold.

Both were arrested, while a search of the premises turned up what the police described as “additional quantities of cannabinoid products”.

The police’s investigation into the matter is ongoing.