A global investigation conducted over the past four years points to Cyprus as the criminal ‘home’, the running base of more than 10 organisations, branching out and growing in ‘drug trafficking, smuggling tobacco products, extortion and blackmail, illegal betting and fixing football matches’.
The relevant reference is made to the Republic of Cyprus in the final draft of an expert research report, based on Interpol data analysed by criminologists, forensic experts, law enforcement and other specialists, part as the ‘Global Initiative’, an NGO working out of Geneva. This is the 2nd report on the Global Criminality Indicator, conducted last November.
As Philenews reports, it essentially confirms the rise of extreme criminality in Cyprus over the past few years, culminating in assassinations carried out in broad daylight by paid killers, with the last one earlier this week, during noon peak time traffic on a busy road in Anthoupoli, very close to one of the largest malls.
Over the last few months the country has witnessed a spate of arson attacks, bombings and underworld killings, with an article by Fanis Makrides indicating that Cyprus is facing an issue of public safety to a considerable and ever rising degree, despite not yet being in the ‘red zone’ of criminality, so to speak.
Crimes have been committed recently in public areas, during the day, including an assassination and two shooting murder attempts, with dozens of eyewitnesses, with criminals now also turning against justice system officials, particularly public prosecutors handling criminal cases. According to reports, a high ranking public official is one a hit list since late last year, with the operations organised from inside Central Prisons.
Security sources cited in the Philenews report point to a new state of affairs over the past five months, where the underworld has now moved beyond criminality to promote its illegal ends, into a volatile situation where there is no clear ‘boss’ and society is taking the brunt of major, continuous changes, as various crime groups are trying to gain control.
The hierarchy of crime groups has changed with dramatic shifts at the top, new alliances between organised crime bosses and movement from one camp to the other, as friends become foes in the Cyprus underworld. At the centre of these changes, is financial income from illegal activities. What’s of concern is that there’s more to come in this criminal reshuffling, translating into ‘take out’ attempts to establish authority. Even in the light of day if necessary, endangering citizens, as organised crime groups are now beyond such considerations.
‘It was a brewing pot with the initial explosion only to be expected and likely to be followed by many others’, said an individual with knowledge of underworld dealings, pointing to next summer as a period of attacks and assassinations, given the abundance of financial gain to be had from illegal activities.
In July 2020, the ‘Special Initiative’, which issued the special report on organised crime, was made up of 500 experts. Their investigations are financially supported by the European Union and the United States.
On Cyprus, the report indicates in more detail that ‘blackmail by organised criminal groups is widespread at night clubs, particularly of popular tourist locations, not just along the coast but also inland’. The biggest form of crime is connected to migration, the report says, noting that the island’s geographical position, leads to high irregular migration and relevant crimes by human traffickers, the no 1 crime, followed by drug trafficking.
As to the profile of criminal organisations members, they are mostly foreign, described as ‘leading elements’ and coming mostly from Caucasus countries, Eastern Europe and Asia. They are involved in crimes against property and money laundering, also being protagonists in drug trafficking across the occupied territories of Cyprus. They are also increasingly involved, in cooperation with local groups in bribing public officials to secure tenders and deceiving the government.
In 2024, 55 arsons and bomb attacks were reported i 101 days. One arson or bomb attack every 44 hours.
