Syrian man arrested in south Cyprus for picking up cannabis sent through mail to Cyprus

A 27-year-old man from Syria, living in Paphos, south Cyprus under subsidiary protection, was arrested and detained on Tuesday for importing and trafficking of drugs. 

Cyprus Customs officers said it seized over one kilogram of cannabis concealed in a postal package at Larnaca International Airport..

On October 4, customs officials at the airport's postal exchange station inspected a package arriving from Thailand. During the physical check, officers discovered 1.06 kilograms of dried cannabis hidden inside two cereal boxes.

The confiscated drugs were handed over to the Drug Law Enforcement Unit (YKAN) for further investigation. On October 7, a 27-year-old Syrian man, the intended recipient of the package, was located and arrested.

The suspect was brought to the Paphos district court on Tuesday.

The court heard that police arrested him at a Paphos post office after collecting a parcel that contained two packages with cannabis, weighing a total of 1.112kg.

The court ordered that he should be detained for seven days to facilitate investigations into the import and trafficking of drugs.

The man had presented himself as the receiver of the parcel.

The parcel arrived in Cyprus on October 4 on a flight to Larnaca airport, where it was checked and handed to the police for further investigations.

Paphos police are investigating.