Police in the British bases arrested two people whom they suspect of having engaged in illegal gambling activities, they announced on Thursday.
They said the arrests took place in the village of Dasaki Achnas on September 26, with the owner of a betting shop targeted in an online sting and one customer both having been arrested. One of the men arrested is from Dasaki Achnas and the other is from the nearby village of Avgorou.
In addition, they said, they made “multiple seizures” of equipment used to carry out the crime.
In total, the police seized 12 computer towers, a number of betting slips, a remote kill switch for the illegal betting shop’s electricity, a digital video recorder, and a total of €650 in cash.
Police inspector Fanos Christodoulou said on Thursday that despite the fact illegal online gambling activities have decreased with the opening of casinos on the island, it has not been entirely eradicated.
“We tend to see illegal online gambling being used to play for smaller amounts of money, as was the case in this situation. But it is important to add, that does not make it less illegal,” he said.
He added, “in the past, this used to be a much larger problem, and while we have come a long way to heavily reduce this crime, we do still see instances like this and we have to be prepared to act when we do.”
“We have a zero-tolerance policy on this issue and when the investigation is concluded, they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
