§ 4. Mr. TredinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any new initiatives are planned to prevent the importation of cocaine from Colombia and other Latin American nations; what assessment he has made of the extent to which organised crime is involved in this traffic; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggMeasures that the Government have taken against the production and importation of cocaine and other drugs include the provision of £1.8 million of drug-related assistance to Latin American countries over the past three years and the setting up of specialist Customs teams to target cocaine trafficking. Organised criminal gangs are often involved with this traffic.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I will be discussing the threat to Europe from cocaine at the ministerial meeting of the Pompidou Group in London next month.
§ Mr. TredinnickWhen, late last year, I attended an international conference in Washington which covered drug problems, Colombian representatives told me that they did not think that enough was being done in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to suppress demand. They stressed their own strenuous efforts to curtail supply, which had resulted in the deaths of their Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, more than 50 judges and more than 1,700 police and law enforcement officers in recent years. Does my hon. Friend recognise the efforts made by the Colombians?
§ Mr. HoggYes, I do. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary had a meeting yesterday with the Colombian Foreign Minister. It was a very profitable and helpful exchange. My hon. Friend is right to raise the subject of cocaine. In 1988 the Customs seized larger quantities of cocaine than of heroin. We have a range of policies designed to deal with the problems of drug misuse and importation, which of course address the cocaine problem, but in view of the changing figures we are reassessing those policies to establish whether they need adjustment.
§ Mr. SkinnerWhen those officers are engaged in stopping the importation of cocaine from Colombia, will the Minister ask them to stop the importation of coal from Colombia at the same time?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I do not think that it is a drug, is it?
§ Mr. SkinnerYes, it is. You have helped me, Mr. Speaker. The importation of Colombian coal mined by nine-year-old children is not just a drug but a drain on Britain's balance of payments.
§ Mr. HoggI think that the Leader of the Opposition will become increasingly alarmed at the fact that the sole Opposition spokesman on these important matters appears to be the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner).
§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldDoes my hon. Friend appreciate the importance of intelligence-gathering in dealing with this odious trade? Are we doing enough to stamp it out by working with the authorities not just in Colombia but in Bolivia and Peru where the drug is produced?
§ Mr. HoggThat is an extremely important point. The exchange of intelligence and information goes to the root of our ability, and that of European countries generally, to deal with the problem of cocaine importation. We are establishing ever better relations with the Latin American countries and are extending our network of drug liaison officers.