Customs officers seized more than 25,000 cigarettes at the Dherynia crossing point and a large quantity of tobacco products from a home in Larnaca on Friday.

According to the customs department, officers stopped a vehicle with Turkish Cypriot registration plates at Dherynia and found 127 cartons containing 25,400 cigarettes.

The cigarettes did not carry the required health warnings in Greek and Turkish, or unique traceability codes, indicating that taxes had not been paid for them to the Republic of Cyprus.

The driver involved was arrested and later released after accepting an out-of-court settlement and paying €8,000.

In a separate raid, customs officers and police searched the home of a 69-year-old man in the Larnaca district.

They found 113 cartons of cigarettes, 18 cartons of heated cigarettes, 400 cigarillos and 4.45kg of loose tobacco, all of which also lacked the required markings.

The man was arrested and the case is being investigated.