North police seize latest batch of meat smuggled from Republic

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

The meat was found in the boot of a car which was crossing north at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point at midday on Wednesday.

The Turkish Cypriot 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.

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.

Meat is markedly more expensive in the north than it is in the Republic, despite wages being lower.

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.

The north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel had said the decision had been taken for meat to be imported after there had been a large number of arrests made and fines levied against Turkish Cypriots who attempted smuggle meat to the north from the Republic, though Thursday’s evidence suggests meat is still being smuggled across the Green Line.

He expressed concern that Turkish Cypriots were buying “meat of unknown origin from southern Cyprus”, and that instead, the north would begin importing meat which complies with “EU standards”.

In any case, at present, the Green Line regulation prohibits the movement of animals and animal products from one side of Cyprus to the other.

Previously, butchers had slaughtered two lambs in protest against their loss of custom, and demanded that the north’s ‘government’ “find a solution” to allow meat to be sold at a price range in line with prices in the Republic.