Cyprus launches new directorate against organised crime — Cyprus Mail
Cyprus will see a new directorate for combating organised crime, dubbed the “Cypriot FBI”, become fully operational on Monday. It will be headed by Christos Andreou. The body’s main task will be to dismantle entire criminal networks and their finances, rather than pursue individual offenders.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said the new body would change the state’s approach to tackling serious crime. In a recorded address, he said the directorate was created following the model of structures such as Europol and the FBI. According to him, the body is intended to bring the police’s main operational capabilities under a single command and strengthen cooperation with European and international law enforcement agencies, Cyprus Mail reports.
Structure of the new body
The directorate will include four sub-directorates: intelligence and special operations, drug enforcement, organised crime investigations, and strategic analysis and international relations. Police said the structure had effectively been operating for several months, and at least four of its cases are already before the courts.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Access to communications data
Police chief Themistos Arnaoutis previously noted that law enforcement lacks an important tool: Cyprus has no law allowing the interception of telephone conversations. He called this a weak point in investigations. According to him, interceptions should be carried out by court order, which should be approved by the attorney general, and under independent oversight.
Justice Minister Costas Fytiris proposed amending Article 17 of the Constitution to expand access to communications data in serious crime cases. Andreou, citing a European assessment, said that around 85% of Europe’s 731 most dangerous criminal networks use legitimate businesses to conduct or conceal their activities.
The directorate does not yet have its own building. The justice ministry’s budget for next year allocates €4,842,500 for the purchase of premises on Ifigenias Street near Nikis Avenue in Nicosia.
