Two Caught Smuggling 49 PS5 Consoles from South Cyprus

Testifying in court, Police Officer Kemal Hoca presented the findings related to the case. Hoca stated that on 30 May 2025, at around 14:25, during a customs check at the Metehan border crossing in Nicosia, customs officers discovered 49 Sony Playstation 5 consoles in the back seat of a vehicle with licence plate PTZ 276, driven by Vrachimis with Olympios as a passenger. The consoles, which had not been declared to customs, were valued at €16,650 and were seized as evidence.

Hoca added that the suspects failed to pay a customs fine of €49,950 issued by the officers, prompting the matter to be reported to the police. The suspects were arrested under a warrant obtained from the court and an investigation was launched. The police noted that the total market value of the consoles in the north is approximately 1,043,000 TL.

The suspects had entered the country as tourists and informed authorities that they would stay with family and friends in İskele if released on bail.

The defence lawyer argued that the accused were unable to pay the customs fine and requested this be taken into consideration when determining bail conditions.

After evaluating the testimony, Judge Nuray Nejdet ordered the suspects' passports to be confiscated, banned them from leaving the country, and required them to report to a police station once every two weeks. Additionally, each suspect must provide one guarantor to sign a bail bond worth 400,000 TL and deposit 100,000 TL in cash bail.