§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Customs and Excise officers were employed, in each year since 1979, solely for the purpose of drug detection tasks.
§ Mr. Hayhoe[pursuant to his reply, 21 June 1985, c. 232]: The number of Customs and Excise officers employed solely on drugs investigation work was as follows:
Number 1979 121 1980 133 1981 152 1982 183 1983 201 1984 212 About 30 full-time support staff are currently employed and, as announced on 11 June, a further 50 specialist investigative posts are being added in 1985.
In addition, the government announced last October an additional 160 officers solely for drugs work. A further 2,715 customs officers are employed on preventive work, an important part of which involves the detection of drugs.