29kg of meat and 10 bags of coal seized by Turkish Cypriot police at crossing point

A total of 29 kilograms of meat and 10 bags of coal were seized by the Turkish Cypriot police at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point from a car which was attempting to cross from the Republic on Saturday.

The car was being driven by a 41-year-old man, and the meat consisted of 24.7kg of lamb meat and 4.4kg of chicken meat.

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 in the Republic, with the prices of many other products in the north now exceeding their equivalents in the Republic.

Because of this, numerous individuals have been caught by police on both sides of the island attempting to smuggle cheaper meat into the north, leading to a large number of arrests and fines.

The north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel had 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”.