§ Mr. Evennettasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Customs officers were permanently assigned to drug enforcement duties at the latest available date; and how many were so assigned (a) five and (b) 10 years ago.
§ Mr. BrookeThe number of Customs investigators and preventive staff will be 3,262 at 31 March 1986; five years ago it was 3,179; the figure for 10 years ago is not available. Within these totals, effectiveness has been increased by shifting resources to specialist drugs investigation, where numbers have more than doubled, and to mobile and other specialised units supported by improved training and equipment.
A further 300 preventive officers are being appointed in the course of 1986–87, and £10 million is being made available for the development and purchase of drugs detection equipment over the next three years.