Large quantities of duty-free tobacco products were located and seized by the Police in Larnaca, as part of a coordinated operation, in the district.
A 60-year-old man was arrested to facilitate investigations after being stopped by a patrol.
A search of both the car and a warehouse maintained by the 60-year-old, in a village in the area, followed, and large quantities of duty-free tobacco products were discovered.
In total, Police members located and seized 1487 boxes of heated cigarettes, 3016 boxes of cigarettes, 121 kilograms and 800 grams of tobacco and one kilogram of hookah tobacco.
As a result, the 60-year-old was arrested for the flagrant offense of illegal possession of duty-free tobacco products.
The 60-year-old man and the confiscated tobacco products were handed over to officers of the Customs Department, who took over the investigation of the case.
Just last week, an attempt to smuggle over 10,000 cartons of cigarettes from Cyprus to Israel was foiled by Customs officials and may have uncovered a much bigger operation after confiscating a huge haul of tobacco being loaded on to a small boat.
It s estimated that the taxes that would have been paid exceed half a million euros if the duty-free cigarettes seized were legally distributed on the market.
However, in a twist, it is thought the cigarettes would have ended up in Israel, with the possibility that the illegal cargo would have been transferred to another ship in the middle of the sea, given the vessel that was seized did not have permission to travel outside the territorial waters of Cyprus.
It has also emerged that those arrested, four men and one woman, are Israeli nationals and reside legally in Cyprus.
All are being held in detention, as reported by Famagusta Gazette earlier.
There is a race to complete the investigative work as soon as possible and perhaps in consultation with the Israeli Customs Authorities, it will be investigated whether similar operations have been conducted for a long time.