Drug seizures hit highest stage since 1973 as cocaine, hashish and ketamine confiscations drive large 24 per cent soar

Police and Border Force have made the highest annual number of drug seizures since records began more than 50 years ago.

They made 269,321 seizures in the year to March 2025, up 24 per cent on the previous 12 months.

The Home Office said it was the ‘highest number of drug seizures in England and Wales since the time series began in 1973’.

It included the largest quantity of herbal cannabis impounded since 1973, up 61 per cent on the previous year to 137 tonnes.

There was the highest number of ketamine seizures since records began for this drug in 2007, with just under 3,400 incidents – a 50 per cent increase on the previous year.

It comes just two weeks after the Home Office’s official drug policy advisers rejected reclassifying ketamine as a Class A substance, which would have meant tougher penalties for possessing or supplying it.

Penalties for taking the anaesthetic and painkiller as a party drug are set to remain unchanged as a result of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ assessment, despite concerns raised by a coroner in the wake of a user’s death.

Ministers have described ketamine as an ‘extremely dangerous substance’ and said its growing use is ‘deeply concerning’.

Ketamine, known to clubbers as ‘K’ or ‘Special K’, comes as a powder and is usually snorted.

Seizures of nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas or ‘hippy crack’ – soared by nearly 2,200 per cent year-on-year when measured by dose, the new figures showed.

Law enforcement confiscated 4.19million doses, up from 180,000, reflecting the fact that its possession as a recreational drug became illegal in November 2023.

In today’s statistics, the number of powder cocaine seizures hit at a 52-year high with 23,706 taking place during the 12 month period compared with 20,900 in the previous 12 months.

However, the overall quantity of seized powder cocaine fell by 35 per cent to about 18.5 tonnes.

The total quantity of crack cocaine seized increased by 106 per cent from 40 to 81 kilos.

The number of heroin seizures was down 10 per cent to about 5,500 incidents, a 30-year low, yet the quantity of heroin seized increased by a third to 589 kilos.

The overall number of seizures of Class A drugs increased by eight per cent to 2,926, Class B by 29 per cent to 46,977, and Class C by 39 per cent to 4,332.

Hundreds of packages of cocaine discovered in industrial generators which arrived at London Gateway port, on the north bank of the River Thames in Thurrock, Essex, earlier this year

Police forces made 14 per cent more seizures of all types of drug in the year while Border Force made 65 per cent more.

The official statistics, published today, showed Border Force seized a total of just over 148 tonnes of drugs, the largest quantity recorded since the 1973.

The Home Office said it was ‘equivalent to two Boeing 737s – with a street value of £2.6 billion’. 

Border Force’s record was mainly driven by confiscations of herbal cannabis.

The Home Office said the number of seizures can be ‘heavily affected by factors such as enforcement activity, changes in recording practices and the demand and supply of drugs’.

Home Office minister Mike Tapp said: ‘Drug seizures are at a record high under this government – with British law enforcement depriving evil gangs of almost £3billion worth in one year alone.

‘Every seizure strikes a blow at the heart of organised crime and stops dangerous drugs from inflicting misery on our communities.

‘We will continue to do whatever it takes to secure Britain’s borders against those doing harm to our country.’