A 31-year-old man was on Wednesday handed a 20-year jail sentence after having been found guilty of the possession of a little over 15 kilograms of cocaine and almost 95 kilograms of cannabis, with the intent to supply.

He was sentenced by the Larnaca criminal court, which, in its verdict, lamented that “in recent years, our country has witnessed the trafficking of large quantities of drugs, with the result that the number of victims is increasing uncontrollably”.

“The spread of drugs is a social scourge and a threat to the very foundation of society, since they pose a danger to both the physical and social wellbeing of the public, and especially to our country’s youth,” it stated.

It added that there is an “enormous … social and economic burden associated with the supply and use of drugs”, and that “despite substantial efforts made to prevent and suppress this global phenomenon, this problem appears to have intensified and have taken on alarming proportions”.

As such, it said, the sentence imposed on the 31-year-old on Wednesday is aimed to serve as a “deterrent”, before adding that this should be the case “especially when previous, admittedly severe, sentences which have been imposed do not seem to have brought the desired result”.

It went on to describe the man’s “young age” as a mitigating factor in its decision, as well as the fact that prior to being arrested, he had had a clean criminal record.

Additionally, it pointed out that he confessed to the crime and had been in a “poor financial situation”, and that he “is a chronic user of addictive substances and a gambling addict”.