NI Drugs Seizures Hit 10-Year High

Drugs seizures in Northern Ireland are at a 10-year high, according to the police.

From April 2015 to March 2016 police carried out 5,597 seizures, 4,445 of which were cannabis. In the 12 months to March 2016, 2,953 people were arrested for drug offences, according to Detective Chief Superintendent Andrea McMullun.

The PSNI are currently targeting around 50-70 crime gangs within NI and are specifically focusing their efforts and attention on 100–130 people linked to drugs criminality.

Officers are also engaging with partner agencies, particularly in the health sector, focusing on targeted prevention by ensuring officers on the ground are working with communities to highlight the dangers and harmful effects of taking drugs, as well as concentrating on enforcement, leading to seizures and arrests.

DCS McMullan said: "Organised crime is a business, a business without integrity, being conducted to make money with no care shown towards the people who are hurt."

Benzodiazepines are also a problem: police made 614 seizures last year. DCS McMullan continued: "These drugs are either being sold illegally by users receiving them on prescription or being sold over the internet or they may be counterfeit medication.” Benzodiazepine is a factor in a large amount of drug related deaths in Northern Ireland.

"Drugs are illegal because they are harmful. The Programme for Government is, in part, about improving health and wellbeing. If we are not tackling issues such as cannabis, which have a harmful effect on health and mental health, we are building a dangerous legacy around community health and welfare."

(CD)