Larnaca customs officers seized a large quantity of duty-unpaid cigarettes from a British passenger’s luggage on Friday, and the passenger was remanded in custody for three days by Larnaca district court on Saturday. Officers, acting on evaluated intelligence, discovered 85 cartons of 200 cigarettes each and eight packets of 20 cigarettes. The items did not carry the required health warnings in Greek and Turkish, nor the mandatory security feature and unique traceability code, indicating they were duty-unpaid.

The passenger was arrested, his luggage and contents confiscated, and he appeared before the district court which issued the three-day remand order to facilitate further investigations. Larnaca customs said the probe is ongoing as authorities continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the attempted export to the United Kingdom.