Neither nine nor 11, but exactly 10 criminal factions operate in Cyprus, according to Interpol.
This suggests that Interpol has precise knowledge of these factions and their activities: drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, extortion, protection rackets, illegal gambling, and match-fixing.
This phenomenon is not new. In the ’90s, two to three factions were at war with each other, while the rest of us watched, believing it didn’t concern us. It was like personal differences, a parallel world.
If one looks back at the press from that time, one will find descriptions of a vendetta. The police were of a similar mindset, preferring to let the factions wipe each other out. Indeed, the groups from that era were decimated, but the landscape didn’t clear. On the contrary, their activities expanded, the pie grew bigger, and the number of factions multiplied.
Nowadays, it’s not just about controlling the night, even if we still refer to it as such out of habit. Even if you own a small café, you must source your water from a specific supplier, or risk seeing your car set on fire. Bakeries, kindergartens, nothing and no one is off-limits; we are all, directly or indirectly, at the mercy of the underworld. And the violence doesn’t happen in dark, abandoned buildings or underground parking lots like in the movies.
It can happen next to us, on a morning walk on the beach, at the neighbourhood convenience store in the evening, or on the street in broad daylight, and it’s only by luck that we don’t become collateral damage.
However, the competent minister, who came to replace the previous minister who failed to bring order, believes that journalists are merely focusing on the negatives.
This is in contrast to Interpol’s reports that Cyprus is one of the largest cocaine trafficking networks and Limassol is the main port of entry for cannabis, often hidden in shipping containers on ships. Local reports also indicate that an arson incident occurs every 48 hours.
What’s even more concerning is that, in recent months, four members of the Prison staff have been suspended for introducing mobile phones and narcotics into the prison system. In the latest attempted murder, citizens had reported suspicious activity to the police before the incident, but there was no response, unlike the swift crackdown on a protest in Limassol, where 10 demonstrators were arrested.
