Drug Seizures and Offender Characteristics, 2014-15 and 2015-16

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published Drugs Seizures and Offender Characteristics, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The publication provides information on drug seizures made by Police Scotland in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The publication also includes an analysis of the characteristics of drug possession crimes for the first time.

The quantity of drugs seized can fluctuate considerably each year and does not necessarily move in line with the number of seizures made. Whilst most drug seizures consist of relatively small quantities (usually possession-related crimes), annual quantities of drugs seized can be greatly influenced by a small number of large seizures (usually from supply-related crimes).

For crimes of drug supply, the main Class A drugs seized by Police Scotland in 2015-16 were heroin (74.0 kilograms), cocaine (82.7 kilograms) and crack cocaine (4.2 kilograms). In addition they also seized 13,000 ecstasy-type tablets.

Again for crimes of drug supply the main Class B drugs seized by Police Scotland were herbal cannabis (413.9 kilograms) and cannabis resin (570.4 kilograms). In addition they also seized 31,400 cannabis plants. For Class C the main drug seized by Police Scotland was diazepam or other benzodiazepines (1.3 million tablets).

A sample of drug possession crime across 2014-15 and 2015-16 found that nearly two thirds of drug possession crimes involved cannabis, with diazepam being the next most common type of drug seized.

The vast majority of drug possession offenders were male. The average age of an offender was 30 years old, with the majority (65%) being between 20 and 39 years old. 16% of offenders were under 20 years old and 19% were 40 years old or older.

Background

Access the full statistical publication.