Third-country nationals accounted for 29% of people involved in serious crime in 2024 despite representing roughly 17.6% of Cyprus’s population. Recent cases have also highlighted Arab and Middle Eastern migrant involvement in parts of the island’s criminal landscape, including Palestinian, Jordanian, Lebanese and Syrian individuals or criminal networks.
Cyprus Crime Data Hides Offenders’ Nationalities
The main issue we had to deal with when writing this article was that the Cypriot police for some reson do not reveal country of origin in public data, they only say “third country nationals” but through basic logic and other data we know where these third country nationals come from – many are Arab migrants.
Cyprus remains one of the Mediterranean’s most popular destinations, but official statistics and recent organized crime cases point to a growing challenge involving both local and foreign criminals.
According to Cyprus’s 2024 logged and public data regarding criminal statistics, third country nationals accounted for approximately 29% of individuals involved in serious crime, while European Commission data estimated that third-country nationals represented around 17.6% of Cyprus’s population.
Another issue we bumped into when writing this article is that the police do not add to their data crimes commited by illegal migrants, meaning there is a lot of data missing.
Recent cases have also highlighted Arab and Middle Eastern legal migrant involvement in parts of the island’s criminal landscape, including Palestinian and Jordanian defendants in a major Larnaca case and Syrian and Lebanese criminal networks identified in a separate assessment of the cannabis trade.
The population and crime datasets use potentially different definitions, so the comparison cannot be treated as a precise relative crime rate. It nevertheless indicates an apparent overrepresentation of third-country nationals in serious-crime statistics.
Middle Eastern Communities and Organized Crime
Third country nationals in Cyprus come from dozens of countries. The largest communities include Russians, UK nationals, Nepalese and Indians, but there are also substantial Middle Eastern populations.
Late 2025 migration figures counted approximately 12,868 Syrians, 4,860 Egyptians and 4,280 Lebanese among legally residing third country nationals.
The available crime statistics do not break the 29% figure down by nationality, so it is impossible to determine from those figures how much of the disparity comes from any particular community.
There is, however, documented Middle Eastern involvement in specific organized crime cases.
The 2025 Global Organized Crime Index identifies Syrian and Lebanese criminal groups as having a strong presence in Cyprus’s cannabis trade. Other foreign networks are also active, including Russian groups in financial crime and Turkish networks in migrant smuggling and illicit trade.
Larnaca Protection Racket Case
One of the most prominent recent cases unfolded in Larnaca.
Four recognized political refugees from Jordan and Palestine have been charged alongside a 48 year old Cypriot whom authorities describe as the alleged leader of an organized group.
The charges include extortion, threats, participation in a criminal organization, firearms and explosives offences, conspiracy and assault.
All five defendants pleaded not guilty and have not been convicted.
Investigators have also examined an alleged protection scheme targeting legitimate businesses, including attempts to extract protection payments and force paid security personnel onto a nightclub.
Restaurant Workers Describe Local Arab “Mafia” Rumors
During a recent visit to Larnaca, Israel News Post also heard concerns directly from people working in the local hospitality industry.
While eating at restaurants in the city, members of our group spoke with waiters of Arab origin who said rumors were circulating locally that Arab immigrants had formed a type of mafia exercising influence or control over restaurant businesses.
Israel News Post could not independently verify those claims. No police or court evidence reviewed for this article establishes that an Arab organization controls Larnaca’s restaurant industry.
The accounts are nevertheless notable given the documented protection racket investigations involving Larnaca businesses. Those investigations do not, however, prove the broader restaurant mafia rumor.
What the Numbers Show
Third country nationals accounted for approximately 29% of people involved in serious crime in 2024 compared with an estimated 17.6% of the population.
Specific cases also show foreign involvement in organized crime. Palestinian and Jordanian refugees are defendants in the Larnaca case, while Syrian and Lebanese criminal networks have separately been identified in the cannabis trade.
But Cyprus’s publicly available crime statistics do not reveal which individual nationalities account for the overall disparity.
The evidence therefore shows that foreign nationals and foreign criminal networks are a documented part of Cyprus’s crime problem and that third country nationals appear disproportionately in serious crime statistics.
Determining exactly which communities are driving that disparity would require more detailed nationality level crime data from Cypriot authorities, which they do not provide publicly.
