Cypriot authorities confiscate 100 kilos of cocaine

Cypriot authorities have confiscated 100 kilograms of cocaine in the southern port city of Limassol, the chief of the Cypriot police said on Friday.

"That was the largest quantity of cocaine ever seized," police chief Zacharias Chrysostomou told journalists.

Drugs squad sources estimated the street value of the drugs was about 10 million euros (10.88 million U.S. dollars).

The police chief said two people respectively aged 33 and 34 were arrested after their cars were flagged down. The drugs were found in two suitcases in the luggage compartment of one of the cars.

He added that the arrests came after a surveillance of the suspects which lasted several weeks.

Chrysostomou said the cocaine was to be sold in Cyprus.

Investigators are looking for the source of the cocaine and are hunting more suspects who are believed to be involved in its import.

Addiction is not a serious problem in Cyprus, but drugs use is on the rise in the eastern Mediterranean island, where cannabis and cocaine are the most popular drugs.

Police have in the past seized considerable quantities of cannabis brought into Cyprus mostly from Holland by travellers recruited by traffickers. Endit