Mid Ulster had over half of Northern Ireland’s total cocaine seizures

The breathtaking scale of the problem has been highlighted by a huge increase in the amount of cocaine seized over the past year.

In fact, in terms of cocaine seizures, the annual Mid Ulster haul of 50,086 grams accounted for 61 percent of the entire amount of the drug seized in Northern Ireland.

Police made more than four drugs seizures a week on the streets of Mid Ulster’s towns and villages with a total of 216 for the year.

Local police also busted three cannabis farms, seizing over a thousand plants and arrested 139 illegal drugs suspects, a rise of nine percent from the previous year.

Police took 1,259 cannabis plants from the Mid Ulster locations of cannabis farms, as well as 6,493 diazepam tablets, 18,000 grams of herbal cannabis, 1,097 grams of cannabis resin and 67 grams of amphetamines from local streets.

The latest drugs bust took place on August 7. Suspected heroin with an estimated street value of around £400 was seized and a man arrested in the Edinburgh Drive area of Cookstown.