Man caught smuggling meat across border

A MAN who was caught trying to smuggle 600 kilos of meat and 50 kilos of banned milk powder into the TRNC from South Cyprus has been fined 108,000TL by Customs.

The illicit haul was discovered in a search conducted by a police team in the Demirhan area of Lefkoşa on March 27.

Suspect “MS” was brought before court on Wednesday and released on bail. Police officer Kozal Depreli gave a sworn testimony at a bail hearing at Lefkoşa District Court presided over by Judge Temay Sağer.

Depreli said that officers from the Narcotics and AntiSmuggling Bureau conducted a search of the suspect’s vehicle at around 1.30pm.

During the search, 376.25 kilos of boneless beef, 58.8 kilos of beef tallow, 54.85 kilos of tripe, 63.20 kilos of ground beef, 32.15 kilos of assorted pork and 50 kilos of powdered milk were seized.

Depreli explained that MS provided a “voluntary statement” as part of the investigation and admitted that a person who is currently being searched for brought the meat from South

Cyprus. The meat found with the suspect had a value of 39,200TL, the court heard, and it was also stated that MS had been fined 108,000 TL by the Customs Office.

Depreli told the court that the part of the investigation that involved the suspect had been completed and requested that the court release him on bail.

Judge Sağer, who evaluated the statements, ordered that the suspect could be released pending trial by paying 7,500TL cash bail and if two TRNC citizens sign sureties of 50,000 TL each.

The judge also said that the suspect was forbidden to go abroad by confiscating all his travel documents and stipulated that he must report to the nearest police station in person once a week.