Man arrested for crossing to north with meth in underpants

A man was arrested at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point after having attempted to cross from the Republic to the north with methamphetamines in his underpants.

The man appeared in court in northern Nicosia on Tuesday, where police officer Ozan Ozder explained that the man, who was driving a car registered in the north, had attempted to cross northwards at the crossing point at 11.25pm on Friday.

The Turkish Cypriot police carried out a search and found a total of six grams of methamphetamines in his underwear, as well as 104 vapes which had not been declared to the north’s customs department, in his car.

The man initially appeared in court on Saturday and was handed a three-day remand. In court on Saturday, it was heard that the man had taken the drugs from one person in the Republic with the intent of passing some of the quantity on to another person in the north and consuming the rest himself.

Ozder said on Tuesday the drugs had been sent for analysis, and that the nylon in which they were wrapped had been sent for fingerprint analysis.

He added that two people had already given statements, and that others were to follow, while he also said the police intended to examine the man’s mobile phone.

Judge Nuray Necdet ordered that the man be handed a further six-day remand.