Second arrest made in 200kg meat bust
The Turkish Cypriot police on Thursday announced they had made a second arrest in relation to the finding of 200 kilogrammes of meat which a man was attempting to smuggle from the Republic to the north on Tuesday. A 32-year-old man had been ar
The Turkish Cypriot police on Thursday announced they had made a second arrest in relation to the finding of 200 kilogrammes of meat which a man was attempting to smuggle from the Republic to the north on Tuesday.
A 32-year-old man had been arrested on Tuesday night after 200kg of meat was found in his vehicle at the Astromeritis crossing point.
Further investigations into the matter by the Turkish Cypriot police led to another man, aged 40, being identified as a suspect.
He was found and arrested at his house in the nearby village of Zodia, with a subsequent search of the property finding a total of 39kg of lamb meat and six kilograms of chicken meat which had not been declared to the north’s customs department.
The Turkish Cypriot police’s investigation into the matter is ongoing.
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, despite lower wages.
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”.
Currently, the Green Line regulation prohibits the movement of animals and animal products from one side of Cyprus to the other.
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