§ Lord MELCHETTasked her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the fact that 56.4 per cent. of the heroin siezed by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in 1978 resulted from a single case when heroin was found in two cars at the Royal Albert Docks in September 1978, and also in view of the fact that Her Majesty's Customs and Excise's claim that this seizure was the result of the vigilance of a Customs officer has been confirmed by the Government (Written Answer: 26th June 1980), they will now correct the statement in paragraph 22 of the White Paper Cmnd. 7873 (The Interception of Communications in Great Britain) that interceptions led to 1580WA the seizure of 62 per cent. of the heroin seized in 1978, which, according to information subsequently provided by them is clearly not correct.
§ Lord COCKFIELDThe statement in paragraph 22 of the White Paper Cmnd. 7873 (The Interception of Communications in Great Britain) that the proportion of the total quantity of drugs seized by the Customs and Excise in 1978, in respect of which interception led to the seizure or played an essential part amounted to some 62 per cent. in the case of heroin and 56 per cent. in the case of cocaine, is correct and therefore requires no correction. As was indicated in the reply of 25th June there were a number of factors which led the Customs officer to give special attention to the cars in question.