Paphos man fined €800 for smuggled tobacco

A 54-year-old man from Paphos was fined €800 after being found to be in possession of tobacco products which had been smuggled into Cyprus without the requisite tax having been paid, police announced on Thursday.

Paphos police’s assistant operations director Michalis Nikolaou explained that the man’s vehicle was pulled over for a routine traffic stop, and that during a search of the car, they found 38 packages containing 50 grams of tobacco each on its back seat.

The packages did not bear the customary tax department markings which are present on all legal tobacco products in the Republic of Cyprus, and thus it was determined that the tobacco had been smuggled into the country.

As a result, the man was fined €800, the customs department was notified of the incident, and the products were confiscated.