§ Lord Harris of Greenwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
How much heroin and cocaine was seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in the first six months of 1996, what was the street value of the heroin and of the cocaine, and what are the comparable figures for 1980 and 1990.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)The information is as follows:
103WA
Year (January-June) Weight (kg) Street-level value £million Cocaine: 1980 10.0 1.0 1990 358.7 53.2 1996 434.4 31.1
Year (January-June) Weight (kg) Street-level value £ million Heroin: 1980 12.0 1.0 1990 170.6 41.5 1996 414.0 28.6 Notes:
All figures are derived from working records, as monthly totals are not published. The only available figures for the first six months of 1990 are previously published provisional amounts.
All street-level values are HM Customs and Excise estimates. The fall in these values for 1996 compared with those for the earlier years reflects both an actual fall in street-level prices and the fact that the current method of estimation reflects the actual purity of the drugs, whereas earlier methods assumed 100 per cent purity.