Two British nationals were arrested at Paphos airport on Sunday after customs officers found 42,000 suspected duty-free cigarettes in their luggage.

The two 35-year-old passengers were preparing to travel to Liverpool.

A search of their luggage uncovered 210 cartons containing 200 cigarettes each, with 105 cartons found in each suitcase.

Customs said the cigarette packets did not carry the required health warnings in Greek and Turkish and were also missing security features and unique traceability codes, indicating they were duty-free.

Both men were arrested, while their luggage and the cigarettes were seized.

They were subsequently taken into custody and were due to appear before Paphos district court on Monday.