Police in party hotspot Ayia Napa have launched a crackdown on boozers as they prepare for Brits to flood the resort this summer.
Two British men were arrested last weekend, alongside a Spanish teen, for assaulting two officers following a brawl on the infamous strip in Cyprus.
The UK louts, aged 23 and 21, were chased by officers and are believed to have attacked them with bottles in the early hours of Saturday morning.
In a show of force, police have now hit the streets of the resort.
But while they are taking a firmer approach with boozy tourists, authorities are turning a blind eye to the sale of potentially lethal nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, despite it being banned.
The UK Foreign Office updated its advice on Cyprus for UK tourists in April, warning of a “zero tolerance” approach to laughing gas use.
But it is sold readily on the streets and in almost every nightspot in the resort.
Touts walk the floors of bars and clubs to flog balloons pumped with the gas, via canisters, for €5.
On the street, outside a “balloon kiosk” – with cops sat in a coffee shop 50 yards away – English workers boast to passers-by: “€5 for a big balloon, four for a small one. We’re cash only. We’re cheaper than everywhere else.”
We were also offered cocaine five times within just 10 minutes of walking near the main drag.
The UK Government announced in March nitrous oxide would be banned as part of efforts to crack down on anti-social behaviour among teens.
Between 2001 and 2020, there were 56 registered deaths involving nitrous oxide in England and Wales – all but 11 of them have been since 2010.
The use of balloons has even spread to the quieter resort of Paphos, on the western side of Cyprus, which is also popular with Brits.
One tout operating in a bar admitted it was illegal before offering the drug.
Ayia Napa taxi driver and former nightclub bouncer Angel Pittiri said: “The balloons these kids do is big business so most of the time it is just ignored.
“But there are more police after the incident with the English guys the other night. Tourists need to be careful.”
Colleague George Georgiou said: “After there’s been a big fight, then you might see more police in the days after and they are brought in from outside of Ayia Napa to support the local police.
“It’s one thing for some tourists to fight each other, but very different if police are being assaulted.”
Last year, the Mirror reported how the raunchy resort was lawless, with police nowhere to be seen as teens took drugs and passed out on the streets. We saw more police in 10 minutes of entering the resort than we did in an entire week last year.
Uniformed officers marched the cobbles with a police chief, while cars were on hand to clamp down on even the most minor of offences involving tourists – including two Brits being escorted out of an Irish bar for annoying the live entertainment.
But the sleaze associated with the resort is still there, with cops turning a blind eye to a man flogging the services of women on the main drag.
Just one minute after we had been approached by a man trying to get us into a strip club where he promised we could have sex with the workers, police chatted to the same person before letting him continue with his shameless sales pitch.
Prostitution is not illegal in Cyprus but operating brothels, forcing prostitution and pandering – providing the services of a prostitute for another person – are outlawed.
In 2019, in a case that shocked the world, a 19-year-old English teen reported she was raped by 12 Israeli men in Ayia Napa.
But the resort has not clamped down on booze offers aimed at getting young women drunk.
Females are still lured into bars with the offer of free drinks, with leaflets handed out on the streets even stating they are “only for ladies”. We were approached by two female teens on the street barely able to walk, who asked us for directions to the nearest taxis.
Angel added: “The young girls are used to get the bars busy and then all the men go in.
“We try our best to make sure we get them back to their hotels safely.”
An Ayia Napa police spokesman said there is more policing in the area currently in a targeted tactic to provide more security in the biggest tourism spot on the island.
He added: “As this is the beginning of the season, an increase in police will be noticed further down the line.”
Of the incident last weekend, he said a case was opened against the males arrested for attacking policemen and resisting arrest, as well as causing worry and unsettling peace in the area.
The Spaniard and the 21-year-old Brit received a €380 fine, while the 23-year-old paid €580.
All the fines were paid and the men were freed.
