Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus police on Wednesday warned that criminal networks are rapidly adapting their methods and introducing increasingly dangerous substances to the local market after record cocaine seizures and the emergence of powerful new synthetic drugs.
Police, presenting anti-drug squad (Ykan) statistics for the first half of 2026, said they had already seized more than 75kg of cocaine this year, surpassing the total amount confiscated during the whole of 2025 by 130 per cent.
Seizures rise sharply
According to police, the increase in cocaine seizures was accompanied by sharp rises in methamphetamine confiscations and the appearance of several synthetic drugs not previously encountered in such quantities in Cyprus.
Ykan chief Christos Andreou said authorities had seized 71.5kg of cocaine by June 22, compared with 30.2kg during the corresponding period last year.
The total rose further after officers intercepted four kilograms of liquid cocaine at Larnaca airport on Tuesday. Police said the drug was hidden inside bottles of cleaning products.
Warning over organised crime
The announcement came ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse on June 26 and included a warning from police chief Themistos Arnaoutis that drug trafficking remains one of the main sources of income for organised crime groups worldwide.
“We cannot speak about drugs without speaking about serious and organised crime,” Arnaoutis said.
“The two phenomena are directly linked. One feeds and strengthens the other.”
Focus on criminal networks
Arnaoutis said police strategy was increasingly focused not only on intercepting drugs and arresting traffickers but also on dismantling criminal networks and tracing the illicit profits generated by the trade.
He said the seizure figures represented far more than statistics.
“They are substances that never reached our streets, our schools or our neighbourhoods. They represent risks that were prevented and lives that were protected,” he said.
Arnaoutis added that the figures highlighted two realities: that criminal organisations are constantly evolving and seeking new ways to profit, and that Ykan must continually adapt to new forms of trafficking and emerging threats.
