A Cypriot court on Monday (February 7th) sentenced a man to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking 628 kilos of ecstasy concealed in barbecues transported to Australia.
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Arriving in Sydney aboard a container ship from the port of Limassol, in the south of the Mediterranean island, the cargo of narcotics was seized by Australian authorities in Sydney in 2019.
The Limassol court did not reveal the name or nationality of the convicted person, indicating only that he is 59 years old.
The court also affirmed to date that this is the largest narcotics seizure presented to the Cypriot courts.
The convict is of Cypriot nationality, a police source told AFP without providing further details.
One of his accomplices, imprisoned for a year and placed under protection, testified against him as part of the investigation in which the British Crime Agency (NCA) took part, according to local media.
According to the same source, the drug, whose resale value is estimated at more than 15 million euros, arrived in Cyprus on board a sailboat in March 2019, without its origin being specified.
The pills were then concealed in nearly 200 barbecues before being shipped to Australia, according to media reports.
In 2019, when the cargo was seized, Australian authorities announced the arrest of two men involved in the case, including a 30-year-old Australian and a 33-year-old Canadian.