North Cyprus police seize meat smuggled from south Cyprus

Turkish Cypriot police on Thursday said they had found and seized a total of 75 kilograms of lamb meat which had been smuggled to the north Cyprus from the south.

The meat was found in the boot of a car which was crossing north at the Kermiya crossing point crossing point on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said legal action has been taken against the car’s driver, a 27-year-old man, and that their investigation into the matter is ongoing.

According to a police statement, the suspect named only as Ş.U., 27 was detected and arrested during a check carried out by customs officers in the vehicle of the suspect at around 12:00 on Wednesday July 17.

Approximately 75 kilograms of lamb meat that had not been declared to customs were detected and seized.

The subject of meat has been a hot topic in the north all year, with farmers having spent a week protesting outside ‘government’ buildings at the end of May against plans to import meat from abroad with the aim of driving down prices.

Farmers and the north’s ‘government’ remain at odds with each other over the matter of imports, but at least two shipments of imported New Zealand lamb have already arrived from the Netherlands.