Prosecutions, arrests and convictions are only part of the story when it comes to drugs. There is another side: prevention and treatment. And for society, that side matters just as much, if not more.
That is why the unseen side of YKAN, the Anti-Drugs Unit, matters. Its work here is not publicised and flies under the public radar, yet it is important and useful because it is social at heart. It rests on three pillars: early intervention, treatment and social reintegration. Where that approach is actually put into practice, it works.
According to a Phileleftheros feature, the method is delivering results, and Cypriot society is noticing them. Most people only hear about the chases, the investigations, the arrests and the convictions, because that is what makes the news. But the other side is there too.
YKAN’s own figures bear it out. Across Cyprus, its Social Intervention Officers referred 1,760 people to treatment centres between 2020 and 2026. The vast majority had a drug problem themselves, while a number came from their family or support network. The figures are clear: 1,760 people on programmes rather than in court.
In January 2026, at an informal meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Cyprus Presidency presented the Social Intervention Officers system as a Cypriot model. Under it, young people who come into contact with the criminal justice system over drugs are referred to treatment centres. The presentation caught the interest of those around the table.
YKAN’s Social Service is a social unit inside a crime-fighting agency. Its job is to cut demand, offer counselling and refer people for treatment. It is a genuinely important European example of organised social intervention working from within law enforcement.
So we will keep saying it, again and again. This unseen side of YKAN is useful, and it must not only carry on but keep getting better. It serves citizens and society, and that is what counts.
The same goes for every state service pulling in that direction, whether the issue is drugs, as here, or anything else that touches society.
