The new crackdown on drugs
This year saw a sudden spike in the number of illegal substances seized by police
THE number of drug seizures made by police is on the rise after falling for a decade.
New Home Office figures show there were 144,198 seizures across England and Wales in 2018/19.
That works out as 395 a day or 16 an hour, on average.
The total was up from 129,940 the year before.
It is the first rise since 2011/12, when there were 215,117 seizures.
Since then the number has been falling year-on-year - until now.
A drug seizure can involve more than one type of illegal substance.
Some 30,961 of the seizures in 201819 involved Class A drugs
A further 109,266 involved Class B drugs - the highest since 2015/16 - while 3,801 involved Class C drugs. When looking at individual drugs across each class, cocaine was the most common Class A drug, with 16,653 seizures. That was up from 14,904 the year before and is the highest it has been since 2011/12.
Herbal cannabis was by far the most commonly seized Class B drug (91,415) while benzodiazepines were the most commonly seized Class C drug (2,249). When the City of London force is excluded from the data (as it polices a very small area of the capital), DyfedPowys
had the highest rate of drug seizures across all forces in England and Wales, relative to the size of its population.
There were 39 seizures made there for every 100,000 people.
Next was Suffolk (37 seizures for every 100,000 people) followed by the Metropolitan Police in London (36) and Sussex (35).
At the other end of the scale, Thames Valley officers made just three seizures for every 100,000 people in 2018/19.
A Home Office report issued alongside the figures said: “The number of seizures made can be affected by police activity and changes in recording practices.
“Therefore, the number of drug seizures each year should not be taken as a measure of drug prevalence in England and Wales.” A person found in possession of a Class C drug can be fined and face up to two years in prison. The sentence length rises to five years for Class B drug possession and seven years for Class A possession. Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal there were 4,359 deaths related to drug poisoning in 2018 - the latest year with data available.
That is the highest number since records began in 1993.