Customs seize cigarettes and hookah tobacco at Deryneia crossing

Deryneia, Cyprus. Customs officers seized cigarettes and hookah tobacco during routine checks at the Deryneia crossing point on Wednesday, imposing out-of-court fines in two separate cases.

Cigarettes seized from vehicle

In the first case, officers stopped a vehicle driven by a 46-year-old Hungarian national and found 59 boxes containing 200 cigarettes each.

The cigarettes lacked the required health warnings in Greek and Turkish, security markings and traceability codes, indicating that they had not been legally cleared for duty.

The tobacco products and the vehicle were impounded. The driver was arrested and later released after agreeing to pay an out-of-court fine of €3,600 and €400 for the return of the vehicle.

Hookah tobacco found in luggage

Later on Wednesday, customs officers stopped a Turkish Cypriot taxi carrying an Israeli passenger travelling to Larnaca Airport.

A search of the passenger’s luggage found four one-kilogram packages of hookah tobacco without the required markings.

The passenger was released after paying an out-of-court fine of €1,400.