Paphos, Cyprus. Four foreign nationals were fined a total of €14,400 after customs officers at Paphos International Airport found large quantities of duty-unpaid tobacco products in their luggage before a flight to London, the customs department said on Sunday. The passengers were later released after customs accepted out-of-court settlements.
Seizure at the airport
The passengers, two British men aged 25 and 24 and two Danish women aged 23 and 22, were stopped on Saturday, July 4, after customs officers acted on a tip.
In total, officers seized 201 cartons of cigarettes, 168 individual packets of cigarettes and 11.75 kilogrammes of rolling tobacco.
Customs findings
Searches of their luggage uncovered hundreds of cartons of cigarettes and large quantities of rolling tobacco that did not bear the legally required health warnings in Greek and Turkish, nor the mandatory security markings and traceability codes, indicating that the products had not been duty paid.
The four passengers were arrested for offences committed in the act, while the tobacco products and their luggage were confiscated.
Settlements and disposal
The passengers were later released after customs accepted out-of-court settlements of €2,500, €3,900, €4,000 and €4,000 respectively.
The customs department said the state collected a total of €14,400 in fines, while the confiscated tobacco products will be destroyed in accordance with the relevant procedures.