§ Mr. DoddsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what quantities of hard drugs were seized by(a) the police, (b) Customs and Excise and (c) other agencies in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [159553]
§ Jane KennedyThe amounts of cocaine, heroin and ecstasy seized by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, and the Northern Ireland Prison Service are detailed in the following tables.
Customs efforts to protect Northern Ireland from drugs cannot be measured solely on results in Northern Ireland itself. In 2002–03, Customs took out 11,549 kilos of Class A drugs, targeted on the UK, some of which would have been destined for Northern Ireland. We are unable to supply data on drug seizures by Customs, prior to 1999 as to do so would require a substantial manual exercise and would incur disproportionate cost.
Data for drug finds in prison establishments prior to March 2001 was not collated centrally and is not available.
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(a) Seizures by Police Service of Northern Ireland 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 April-December 2003 Ecstasy Tablets 85,600 163,023 448,015 410,671 127,368 605,188 207,404 Powder (gms) 26.25 112.0 514.1 498 232.81 1 0 Capsules 169 122 0 11 2 25 0
(b) Seizures by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Cocaine (grams) Heroin (grams) Ecstasy (tablets) 1999–2000 0 0 12,000 2000–01 0 0 118,000 2001–02 0 0 0 2002–03 1,690 0 6
(c) Seizures by Northern Ireland Prison Service. Cocaine Heroin Ecstasy Grams Tablets Grams Wraps Tablets 2001–02 7.2 7 0 8 38.5 2002–03 0.5 0 0.3 0 11 2003–041 1 0 2.8 0 105 1 Figures stated for 2003–04 are up to end of November 2003.