Figures show sharp decline in drug seizures
● DRUG seizures in Cheshire have dropped by more than a fifth in a year.
The number of drug seizures by police fell 21% from 831 in 2014-15 to 653 in 2015-16, according to figures from the Home Office, one of the biggest falls in England and Wales.
The county has one of the lowest rates of drug seizures in England and Wales, with 636 per million people in 2014-15, a fraction of the England and Wales rate of 2,449 per million people.
There were 148,553 drug seizures in England and Wales in 2015-16 (including estimated figures), an 11% decrease compared with the previous year (167,059), and the fourth consecutive annual fall.
Over the same time period, there was a 13% decrease in the number of police recorded drug offences.
Seizures by police forces decreased by 11% between 2014-15 and 2015-16 (from 160,933 to 143,248) and seizures made by Border Force decreased by 13% (from 6,126 seizures to 5,305).
The majority of seizures (96%) were made by police forces in England and Wales; however, Border Force seizures tended to be for larger quantities. ●
In terms of quantity, Border Force seized 90% of all cannabis resin, 89% of anabolic steroids, 89% of herbal cannabis, 84% of ketamine, and 83% of cocaine.
Between 2014-15 and 2015-16, seizures of Class A drugs increased by 1% from 29,705 in 2014-15 to 29,949 in 2015-16.
Cocaine was the most commonly seized Class A drug, with just over half of all Class A seizures involving this substance.
In 2015-16, there were 15,588 seizures of cocaine, down 1% on the previous year (15,815 seizures).
There were increases in seizures of crack, up 14%, heroin, up 2%, and other Class A drugs, up 36%.
There were 115,126 seizures of Class B drugs in 2015-16, a decrease of 13% since 2014-15 (132,254).
The majority of Class B seizures were for cannabis, with 109,527 seizures in total (down 12% on the 201415 figure).
There were increases in the number of seizures of barbiturates, up 11%, and ketamine, up 9%.
Seizures of Class C drugs decreased between 2014-15 and 2015-16, from 6,244 to 5,128, a fall of 18%.
The most commonly seized Class C drug in 2015-16 was benzodiazepine with 1,964 seizures, a fall of 7% on the 2014-15 figure of 2,122.