Drug-seizures fall in Wales blamed on police cuts

A fall in the amount of drugs taken off the streets in Wales is due to police cuts, a former senior officer has said.

Welsh police forces carried out 7,759 drug seizures in 2016-17, which is 16% less than the year before, Home Office figures show.

Former North Wales Police acting chief constable Clive Wolfendale, who now runs drugs charity Cais, said officers were too stretched.

The Home Office said it was taking a smarter approach against drug dealing.

It came as the number of drug-poisoning deaths reached record levels in England and Wales last year - the highest number of deaths since comparable records began in 1993, according to the Office for National Statistics.

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Mr Wolfendale said he was concerned there were not enough police officers to tackle the drugs problem.

"We have not seen a reduction with drugs in circulation, it's probably as high as it's ever been," he said.

"The number of drug seizures is usually related to the amount of effort that police forces can put into enforcement.

"The fact is that police forces in England and Wales are incredibly stretched with fewer officers having to deal with a lot of new threats, like counter terrorism and growing issues around digital crime.

"For me, enforcement still has to be key part of a sensible drug strategy and clearly this is of concern."

The Home Office figures show the majority of drugs seized in Wales were cannabis, cocaine and heroin.

• North Wales Police had 1,083 drug seizures in 2016-17, down 22% on the year before

• Dyfed-Powys Police had 1,969, down 19%

• Gwent had 1,079, down 16%

• South Wales Police had 3,628, down 12%

• Across England and Wales, police force seizures were 138,955, down 6%

Martin Blakebrough, chief executive of Newport-based drugs charity Kaleidoscope, said he hoped a reduction in drug seizures was a result of the way the issue was being policed.

"They're not necessarily after every low-level dealer and I don't think they should be," he said.

"Going after every 18-year-old with cannabis is not going to sort out the problem.

"I'd like to think the police are focusing more on the big dealers and in some areas there's evidence of that."

A Home Office spokesman said tough enforcement was a fundamental part of its drugs strategy.

"We are taking a smarter approach to restricting the supply of drugs: adapting our work to reflect changes in criminal activity; using innovative data and technology, and taking coordinated partnership action to tackle drugs alongside other criminal activity," he said.

Det Chief Supt Wayne Jones, of North Wales Police, said: "Significant analytical and proactive resources are continuing to focus on those who cause the most harm to our communities through drug supply.

"On a daily basis we are executing search warrants, arresting offenders and protecting the most vulnerable by tackling drug related offending directly in communities."

South Wales Police said it was using "all means at our disposal to halt the cultivation, supply and sale of all illegal drugs to make communities safer".

"Intelligence gathering and information from the public has resulted in many raids across south Wales, leading to significant hauls of drugs being seized," a spokesman added.

Gwent and Dyfed-Powys Police have also been asked to comment.