CYPRUS: Police seize Israeli \’spy van\’ in Larnaca

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Cyprus police have seized an alleged “spy van” belonging to an Israeli national that was equipped with sophisticated surveillance equipment capable of hacking communications.


Police instigated an investigation after the opposition communist party AKEL asked what the government was doing about the van after a Forbes video went viral in Cyprus about its activity on the island.

Investigators searched a company premises where the van was located in the southern coastal resort of Larnaca after securing warrants.

“On preliminary examination, the vehicle was found to have electronic equipment and was confiscated, along with other evidence,” said a Cyprus police statement said Saturday.

“In a subsequent investigation at the company’s offices, further evidence was found, which will be subject to scientific examination,” it added.

Police said they were investigating possible violations of the protection of privacy law.

Forbes named the van owner as ex-Israeli intelligence officer Tal Dilian who heads the Cyprus-registered company that owns the van.

It said the US$9 million state-of-the-art equipment can monitor electronic devices within a 500-metre radius, hack any phone and listen in to conversations regardless of the level of encryption.

Cyprus police chief Kypros Michaelides told private radio station Astra that the Israeli had given “some explanations” but he and other Cypriot shareholders would be questioned further.

Once the video of the van gathered popularity on the island, the government was urged to act to see if anything illegal had transpired.