§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the trend of seizures of narcotics in ports and airports.
§ Mr. RyderHer Majesty's Customs and Excise provisional figures for 1989 show substantial increases in the numbers and quantities of seizures of the major drug types.
The overall number of seizures shows an increase of some 40 per cent. while increases by weight were of the order of 40 per cent. for heroin, 50 per cent. for cocaine, and 130 per cent. for cannabis resin in 1989 as compared with 1988.
There is a continuing underlying trend for seizures of drugs consigned from or routed through other EC' countries to represent a substantial proportion of total seizures. In 1989 they amounted to approximately 40 per cent. of the total weight seized.