Drug seized worth 'millions' say PSNI

Class A narcotics, ecstasy and cocaine, as well as herbal cannabis and cannabis resin were among the haul removed from the street, and Chief Inspector Jon Burrows revealed that in the past two years the police had conducted over 150 house searches in the Foyle District, and that more than 50 people had been charged with supplying drugs in the city.

"We have been very proactive and we have had very good results," he said, adding: "We have been getting much more success in the past two years, and last year was a record-breaking year in which we seized over 1 million worth of drugs, and this is excluding the drugs seized on Foyle Bridge, which we believe was being transported through the city."

At yesterday's press conference the Chief Inspector said the number of houses being search this year had increased on the previous year, and said from the police perspective drug abuse was "fairly evenly spread" throughout the city, with the police finding that those dabbling in drug misuse seemed to be sticking with 'traditional' substances like cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine.

He described the 'traditional' drugs as "prevalent" and went on to warn that it was important to remember that they could be both harmful as well as dangerous.

"We have a full range of drugs here. We have ecstasy, which has been on the market for a long time now, we have large quantities of cannabis, and we have some quantities of cocaine that we have seized also. They make up the majority of our seizures. We have seized some Mephedrone and we have seized some other drugs, and over the past two years we have seized millions of pounds worth of drugs."

CI Burrows said the vastly reduced price of ecstasy had made the substance considerably more accessible to those who wanted to indulge in this type of drug misuse. He said it was also reflected in the quantity of the drug that they has seized.

CI Burrows said the success of the police drugs programme had been largely down to the positive role played by the community, and community assistance, combined with effective policing.

"We have prioritised this, but the amount of co-operation we are getting is immense. Every part of the community in Derry is ringing us, giving information about drugs and we are translating that into operations and seizing drugs and convicting drug dealers," he said.

However, he said the police needed even more co-operation, and he believed what they had seized was "only the tip of the iceberg" in relation to what was on the streets.

Asked about the activities of RAAD (Republican Action Against Drugs), CI Burrows stressed that there was an alternative to 'vigilantism'. He said the drug problem could be dealt with without what he called "grotesque acts of violence".

"I think the progress that we have made as a society and as a police service. The co-operation with the public is much more intense than it used to be. The trust and the confidence is there and I think we are seeing the dividends of that."

He added that while the problem of drugs could never be eradicated, there remained the possibility to "make a real difference and to make people feel safer".