Man arrested at crossing point for smuggling large goods including meat into north Cyprus

A Turkish Cypriot man was brought to the Lefkosia district court on Monday for buying duty free goods from the south of Cyprus. 

The suspect named only as S.H.K, 43 was arrested at around 10.35am on Sunday at the Kermiya Crossing Point in Lefkosia by Turkish Cypriot police for attempting to cross with a large quantity of various food items.

During a police search of his vehicle, 20 kilogrammes of beef, 20kg of rohu fish, 20kg of Pangasius fish, 12 litres of mustard oil, 24 boxes of cereal, 12kg of turmeric powder and 24 chilli peppers were found in the vehicle which were prohibited for import and were not declared to customs.

The Green Line regulation allows for small amounts of some products to be crossed from between Cyprus’ two sides under some specific circumstances, though the man had fulfilled none of the requisite criteria.

The crossing of meat is prohibited under all circumstances, while fish can be crossed for commercial purposes if an accompanying document from the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce is presented and the crossing of chilli peppers, technically a fruit, is also prohibited.

The other items the man attempted to take to the north are typically permitted in small quantities, though these quantities were greatly exceeded in this case.

The suspect was brought to court on Monday, Sept. 23. Police told the court that an investigation into the matter had been launched and that the man is a Turkish Cypriot, has been living in the north continuously for the last 19 years and is married with two children.

The judge released the suspect on bail on the condition that he is banned from travelling abroad until his trial, pay a bail fee of 20,000TL, provided two guarantors to both sign bonds worth 200,000TL  and that he present himself to his nearest police station every two weeks.