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Drug supply to the UK is continuing to grow, authorities have warned, revealing the number of under-18s seeking treatment after Ketamine use has tripled in three years.
Deaths linked to synthetic opioid nitazenes have also hit 1,000, after being cut into heroin.
The head of the National Crime Agency (NCA) declared that illegal substances are still the ‘single biggest driver’ of serious crime in the country, as he set out his annual threat assessment.
New technologies, including semi-submersibles, are being used to smuggle drugs across the Atlantic from South America, Graeme Biggar said, as cocaine production there has reached a record high.
And while the heroin market has remained ‘broadly stable’ according to the agency’s calculation, they say adults presenting at healthcare centres for problems linked to ketamine have increased tenfold in a decade.
Speaking to reporters, the NCA’s director general said: “New technology is playing a key role in this old crime.
“It’s evolving and giving scale to criminals in a way we just never saw five or ten years ago.
“And is being used to create new drugs like synthetic opioids, to smuggle drugs across borders and into prisons, GPS trackers are being attached to drugs thrown off container ships into the Channel and to sell drugs on the open and dark web.”
Of the 1,000 deaths which have been linked to nitazenes since June 2023, the NCA boss said, the issue has been more notable in Scotland, describing it as ‘fitting more into the drug culture’ there, with habitual heroin users.
Describing the figure as ‘extraordinary’, Mr Biggar pointed to the problem in North America, where one year saw 70,000 deaths, warning that the number could have been higher.
17 different types of nitazene have been identified in the UK so far.
He said: “We’ve thrown everything at trying to reduce this because we were genuinely worried it was going to increase exponentially.
“We don’t take too much confidence from the figure – we still think it could take off – and one of the reasons death has come down is naloxone. It’s definitely saved lives.”
Naloxone is a drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
Cocaine use has continued to rise in the UK, the director general said, which in turn has increased crime rates linked to the sale of the drug.
He says increased production of the drug in Columbia has ‘flooded the market, globally’ which has driven its price down, both at a wholesale level and on the street.
In July, the son of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar claimed to LBC that narco-subs would be bringing an ‘unimaginable’ amount of cocaine in the UK
Roberto Sendoya Escobar said the drug is “ingrained into society” and Brits “can’t even imagine how much of it comes into the UK.”
Graeme Biggar said increasingly the sem-submersibles are being used to ship upwards of 10 tonnes of cocaine at a time to the coast of Portugal and Spain, often with two or three people on board.
But one vessel has recently been intercepted which was being driven autonomously across the Atlantic.
The head of the agency said there have been no examples, that he’s aware of, of boats leaving England to meet semi-submersibles in the water but he said ‘it would be possible’ as he warned of the threat they pose.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: “The threat from serious and organised crime is rapidly evolving, with criminals collaborating across borders and online to target the British public at scale. As they step up their activity, so must we. “We’re driving a major international effort to take down smuggling gangs, and hitting drug traffickers harder than ever, through tougher port controls and record drug seizures.
“Police reform will allow us to go even further in tackling serious and organised crime. The new National Police Service will bring together specialist capabilities and give us a stronger national grip to detect and disrupt the most dangerous criminals.
“By delivering these reforms, we will stay ahead of the threat and make the UK an even harder target for serious criminals.”
