Lockdown sparks postal drugs surge

Friday 11 September 2020

It seems it wasn't just legal supply chains which were hit by corona virus restrictions this year - drug seizures by the island's Customs Officers have surged on the 2019 numbers, with the postal service being the new hot spot.

The official stats show that there have been 185 drug seizures from the Post Office from January to June 2020, a 67% increase in the figure for the whole of 2019, and making up 94% of the total seizures so far this year.

Pictured: the drug seizure stats so far this year.

Explaining the figures, the Government said that “the increase in seizures at the Post Office in the first half of 2020 is believed to be as a direct result of Covid-related travel restrictions, an interruption in supply chains, and an increased focus by JCIS at the Post Office.”

Pictured: Nearly a third of cannabis-related seizures were 'other products' like vapes. 

The statistics also show that seizures of cannabis have already more than doubled since 2019, going up from 74 cases to 156.  

Indeed, the majority of this year’s seizures have been cannabis-related, with them making up 79% of the overall total. 

However, nearly a third of the cannabis cases were classified as ‘other cannabis products’ such as “vapes, sweets, herbal material and other products containing in excess of trace amounts of cannabinol.”