The south Cyprus customs department on Monday held a Turkish Cypriot couple and seized their car and 435 bunches of wild asparagus at Ayios Dometios checkpoint.

According to the report, the south Cyprus authorities stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple inside a car with Turkish Cypriot licence plates while they were trying to cross from the checkpoint at Ayios Dometios.

After an out of court settlement, the couple was instructed to pay €400 as a fine and €200 to get the car back.

Some were stashed in the boot of the car and others inside the car.

The asparagus are now customs office property.

According to the EU’s Green Line regulation certain products are not allowed to pass through the checkpoints to south Cyprus as they might be potential carriers of harmful organisations and cannot be checked under EU health and safety standards.