POLICE FIND ONE GRAM OF COCAINE EVERY HOUR

AGRAM of cocaine is being seized every hour by police in South Wales, according to new figures. Double the amount of the Class A drug was seized by South Wales Police over the past year – rising from 4.2kg seized in 2014/15 to 8.6kg in 2015/16.

Seizures of Ecstasy have also soared – from 900 doses in 2014/15 to a whopping 10,800 doses in 2015/16.

That’s a dose of Ecstasy being found every 49 minutes.

The amount of amphetamines found more than doubled in South Wales from 15.9kg in 2014/15 to 34.8kg last year, meaning on average a gram is being found every 15 minutes.

Gwent Police saw the amount of herbal cannabis being seized more than double to 41kg from 19.kg and the amount of cannabis resin soared from 2kg in 2014/15 to 11.1kg in 2015/16.

The number of doses of anabolic steroids is also on the rise in the Gwent Police force area, up from 3,000 doses in 2014/15 to 22,800 in 2015/16, or one found every 23 minutes on average.

In South Wales, 44,000 doses were found, or one every 12 minutes on average.

The figures are from a new report from the Home Office – and rises in drug seizures in South Wales seem to reflect a similar rise across Wales and England.

The government figures showed that the amount of herbal cannabis seized in Wales and England has doubled in a year, mostly due to huge quantities being seized by border police.

Police found 30,493kg doses of the Class B drug in 2015/16, up from 15,106kg in 2014/15, with numbers found at their highest level in at least seven years.

On average, a gram of the drug was seized every second.

Of the 30,493kg found, 27,132kg was seized by the Border Agency, up from 10,358kg in 2014/15.

The amount of cocaine seized by police in Wales and England rose by a quarter in a year. Police seized 4,228g of the drug in 2015/16, again primarily due to big quantities seized by the Border Agency, or a gram every seven seconds on average, up from 3,387kg in 2014/15.

Detective Chief Inspector Jason Redrup, head of the South Wales Police organised crime unit, said: “Drugs have a devastating impact on our communities and we use all means at our disposal to disrupt the production and supply of all illegal drugs to make our communities safer.

“Over the past year, intelligence gathering and information from the public has resulted in many raids across South Wales, leading to significantly large hauls of drugs, cash and other assets being seized and higher level organised criminal gangs being disrupted and put before the courts.”

Anyone with information about suspected drug dealers should ring police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.