Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of seizures of cocaine at (a) ports and (b) airports on the supply of the drug.

In 2023/24, 28.3 tonnes of powder cocaine was seized by police and Border Force in England and Wales. This was an increase from 18.6 tonnes the previous year and the largest recorded quantity of cocaine seized since the time series began in 1973.

However, serious criminals are constantly developing their approaches to traffic cocaine into the UK in response to our efforts at the border. This includes changing their trafficking routes and evolving their methodologies to evade detection, for example, diversifying importation methods through at-sea-drop-offs.

We therefore recognise that we must continue to adapt our strategy and work more closely with law enforcement partners upstream to stop cocaine trafficking at source and all across the supply chain, targeting the gangs responsible, and bringing them to justice. Officials will continue to assess the impact of global drug trafficking on the UK and implement new approaches to respond to this threat.