Six suspects arrested over an alleged murder for hire plot in Cyprus will be deported within days, police said on Monday after detention and deportation orders were issued against them.
Two further men, aged 33 and 35 and arrested on August 29, appeared before the Famagusta district court on Monday where their case was referred to the criminal court for November 18.
The investigation began after Danish authorities passed information to police via Europol concerning planned murders for hire on the island.
The intended targets were identified as twin brothers from Britain who had been due to arrive in Cyprus on holiday.
The twins have since been named by the Liverpool Echo as Jamie and Aaron Small, former wrestlers who had previously been staying in the Famagusta area before leaving Cyprus.
The brothers are believed to have fled after European law enforcement intervened, and Merseyside Police is now taking part in a search for them alongside Interpol.
Merseyside Police has confirmed it is in contact with local authorities in Cyprus and providing support.
A joint investigation by the Irish Times, the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network, Norway’s VG and Sweden’s SVT reported that Irish security sources believe the alleged hit was commissioned by individuals close to the Irish Kinahan organised crime cartel.
According to that investigation, the plot came to light on August 10, when a user with the pseudonym Sponge Jobb offered payment in cryptocurrency on the encrypted platform Signal for a contract killing within the EU.
An undercover Danish officer posing as a hitman was given photographs of the twins and told that firearms had been sourced from Turkey, before being directed to collect payment in Ayia Napa.
The organiser also claimed that local police would be bribed to stay away from the area where the killings were to take place.
The undercover officer travelled to Cyprus on August 24 and was monitored by the police special branch in cooperation with Europol.
Surveillance identified an Irish suspect after he was seen leaving money at a collection point, recognised from his clothing and a distinctive tattoo.
He was later seen meeting two Norwegian men at Ayia Napa marina before the photograph of the twins was sent to the undercover officer.
The first three suspects, an Irish national with reported family ties to the McCarthy Dundon gang in Limerick and two Norwegians with previous convictions for weapons and drugs offences, were arrested on August 27.
Five Swedish nationals were arrested subsequently after Swedish authorities alerted Cypriot counterparts to a suspected perpetrator who had travelled to the island.
Police searches recovered a pistol, surgical masks, disposable gloves, mobile phones, batons and cash, along with footage reportedly showing guns and acts of violence.
All eight suspects have denied involvement or declined to answer questions, with the five Swedish nationals maintaining they were in Cyprus on holiday.
The whereabouts of the Small brothers remain unclear, and the motive behind the alleged plot has not been disclosed.
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