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Recent news reports detail an ongoing police investigation in Cyprus into a criminal syndicate that allegedly used an office in an illegal casino in the bi-communal village of Pyla as a "torture chamber".
A raid on the underground casino has yielded various forensic evidence for scientific testing.
Police this week said that investigations into the criminal syndicate had intensified after at least 25 videos were uncovered showing the torture of at least seven people inside a casino in Pyla. These videos are not believed to have been made public as of this writing.
The videos were discovered on the phone of an individual who was already being held on a shooting charge.
According to the Larnaca Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the videos depict seven individuals—both Cypriots and foreign nationals—being subjected to savage beatings, with the 48-year-old suspect whose phone contained the videos allegedly seen forcing handguns into the mouths of his victims.
The victims were reportedly tortured to extort money or to force “confessions” regarding alleged criminal plots against the primary suspect.
The case has also led to the detention of a 27-year-old, while a third suspect remains at large.
The region where the torture took place is patrolled by UN peacekeepers rather than standard law-enforcement agencies, as a result of Pyla’s unusual administrative status. As a result, unlicensed gambling venues and other illicit enterprises continue to emerge and prosper around the village.
The strip of land acts as a buffer zone separating the Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot north.
After intercommunal violence in the 1960s and the division of Cyprus in 1974, the United Nations established a peacekeeping mission to prevent further fighting.
For many years, some offshore gambling companies have been known to maintain corporate links to Cyprus.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
