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Drug seizures by Scottish Police Forces
03/06/2008
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Drug Seizures by Scottish Police Forces, 2005-06 and 2006-07.
The main findings are:
- The total number of drug seizures in Scotland in 2006/07 saw a decrease of 17 per cent compared with 2005-06, from 25,314 to 20,938. In 2005/06 the number of seizures increased slightly compared to 2004-05, from 24,898 to 25,314.
- The number of seizures of crack, cocaine and heroin show an increase over the two year period to 2006-07.
- The number of seizures recovering crack has more than trebled over the past two years, although absolute numbers remain relatively small. The number of crack seizures in 2005-06 increased by approximately one and a half times when compared to 2004-05, from 75 to 185 seizures. In 2006-07 the number of crack seizures further increased by 22 per cent compared to the 2005-06 figure from 185 to 226 seizures.
- The number of cocaine seizures in 2005-06 increased by approximately 50 per cent when compared to 2004-05, from 870 to 1,302 seizures. In 2006-07 the number of cocaine seizures increased by further 30 per cent compared to the 2005-06 figure, from 1,302 to 1,692.
- The number of heroin seizures in 2005-06 saw an increase of 16 per cent when compared to 2004-05, from 2,816 to 3,275 seizures. In 2006-07 the number of heroin seizures increased very slightly from 3,275 to 3,289, when compared to the 2005-06 figure.
- The total number of drug seizures recovering cannabis in 2005/06 increased very slightly from 19,216 to 19,319 when compared to 2004-05. In 2006-07 the total number of cannabis seizures decreased by 31 per cent from 19,319 to 13,364 seizures.
The latest statistics on drug seizures differ from those previously published by the Home Office (Statistics on drug seizures and drug offenders in Scotland 2003). The main difference is that tables are presented in financial year and not calendar year.
This is the second time that statistics on the drug seizures made by Scottish police forces have been published by the Scottish Government. Historically the Home Office collected and published these data, supported by a Scottish Government statistical news release.
This publication does not contain information from HM Revenue and Customs, British Transport Police and seizures outwith Scotland as a result of SCDEA operational activity. SCDEA seizures in Scotland are included in the Police Force data. It is not possible to distinguish which seizures had a SCDEA involvement.
A number of changes to drug classifications have occurred during the time period presented. Cannabis was reclassified on 29 January 2004 from class B to class C and methylamphetamine was reclassified in January 2007 from class B to A. For the purposes of this publication, cannabis is classified as class C and methylamphetamine is classified as class A for all years.
A seizure involving more than one drug is counted as a single seizure in the total number of seizures but are counted separately against each individual drug or drug class involved. As a seizure can involve more than one drug, figures for individual drug classes cannot be added together to produce totals. Therefore the number of seizures of drug by class can add up to more than the total number of seizures.
A seizure is the result of an operation that is recorded by police. If the operation made raids on several properties this will be recorded as one seizure. Similarly, a single seizure may result in multiple offences and multiple perpetrators.