Record amounts of cocaine and ketamine have been seized by U.K. Border Force and police forces, new data released on April 20 shows.
In the year ending March 2022, 188,929 drug seizures were made in England and Wales with so-called party drugs cocaine and ketamine reaching the highest levels of seizures on record.
The quantity of cocaine seized rose by 68% to 18,767kg, while the quantity of ketamine confiscated rose by 884% to 1,837kg.
The record amounts seized were driven by an increase in the number of high-quantity and intelligence-led seizures by Border Force. Although police forces accounted for 89% of the number of seizures, Border Force seized a much a higher proportion of drugs in terms of quantity.
Border Force is often involved in operations where large quantities of drugs are seized, for example at airports or maritime ports. In the year ending March 2022, law enforcement action by Border Force made up 91% of the quantity of all cocaine and ketamine seizures, 97% of anabolic steroids and 79% of heroin.
Working in partnership, Border Force, police forces, the National Crime Agency and international partners use a range of methods including high-tech search equipment and visual checks to detect illegal and restricted goods that criminals attempt to bring into the U.K.
These statistics are the first to be published which cover a period following the announcement of the government’s 10-year Drug Strategy to tackle the harms caused by drug misuse in December 2021.
Securing the border to crack down on supply chains and criminal gangs profiting from the trade in illegal drugs forms a key part of the strategy, which will see £300 million invested in pursuing and closing down the ruthless gangs who exploit and threaten our most vulnerable in society for financial gain. A further £780 million will be invested in treatment and recovery.
