National statistics

Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023

Updated 5 March 2024

Applies to England and Wales

This publication provides an overview of drug seizures made by the police (including the British Transport Police) and Border Force in the year ending 31 March 2023 in England and Wales. The data relates to all drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA) and the Psychoactive Substance Act 2016 (PSA). Statistics on historical seizures of drugs prior to and including the year ending March 2010 can be found in the web archive.

Please see the user guide for further information on this release, including the imputation methods used for missing data. For the year ending March 2023, imputation methods were used for approximately 2% of the total number of drug seizures.

We are consulting on our publication to understand the needs of the users of this publication. Please see our survey here which closes 1 May 2024.

1. Main points

• police forces and Border Force made a total of 191,623 drug seizures in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023, a 1% increase compared with the previous year (188,929)
• Border Force seized the highest number of total seizures on record in the year ending March 2023 (25,834), a 24% increase from the previous year
• the number of powder cocaine seizures by police forces and Border Force increased by 4% in the year ending March 2023, compared to the previous year (from 18,228 to 18,978 seizures). This is the highest number of powder cocaine seizures recorded since 2009 to 2010
• police forces seized the largest quantity of powder cocaine on record in the year ending March 2023 (3.36 tonnes), a 100% increase from the previous year. A total of 18.58 tonnes of powder cocaine was seized by police forces and Border force, a 1% decrease from the previous year
• the quantity of heroin seized decreased by 33%, from 1.41 tonnes in the year ending March 2022 to 0.95 tonnes in the year ending March 2023. This ended a period of large quantities of heroin being seized between year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2022, bringing the latest figures to pre-2019 to 2020 levels. The total number of heroin seizures made in the year ending March 2023 also decreased, from 6,814 to 6,835 seizures (-6%), following a downward trend since 2020 to 2021
• Border Force seized the highest number of total cannabis seizures on record in the year ending March 2023 (20,211 seizures). This was largely driven by a 165% increase in the number of herbal cannabis seizures Border Force made (7,221 to 19,105), which was also the highest number of seizures made by Border Force on record
• police forces and Border Force seized the largest quantity of herbal cannabis on record in the year ending March 2023. This was a 96% increase from the previous year (35.44 to 69.30 tonnes). This was due to Border Force seizing the largest quantity of herbal cannabis on record (46.79 tonnes) and police forces seizing the second largest quantity on record (22.51 tonnes), after the peak recorded in 1994
• police forces seized the largest quantity of ketamine on record in the year ending March 2023 (500kg). This was a 189% increase from the previous year. Border Force seized the second largest quantity of ketamine on record (934kg), after the peak in 2021 to 2022
• the total quantity of ecstasy seized increased by 161% (0.60 million doses to 1.56 million doses). This is the first increase of the total quantity of ecstasy seizures since 2018 to 2019, despite a 36% reduction in the total number of ecstasy seizures made (2,474 to 1,576 seizures)
• police forces accounted for 87% of the number of seizures made in the year ending March 2023, whereas Border Force accounted for a much larger proportion of the quantity of drugs seized (for example, 82% powder cocaine, 87% ecstasy, 91% GHB)

The number of seizures can be heavily affected by enforcement activity as well as changes in recording practices. For the latest estimates of drug use see the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Annual totals of the quantity of drugs seized can be greatly influenced by a small number of large seizures. As with the number of drug seizures, any large quantity of drugs seized should not be taken as an indication of drug use prevalence or availability.

2. Number of seizures

In the year ending March 2023, 191,623 drug seizures were made in England and Wales. This is a 1% increase on the previous year. Other key findings were:

• there was an increase in the number of Class B (+5%) seizures which drove the overall increase in total number of seizures, and a decline in the number of both Class A (-11%) and Class C (-4%) seizures
• total cannabis (herbal, resin and plant) seizures increased by 7% and remains the most seized drug followed by powder cocaine
• similar to previous years, police forces accounted for the majority (87%) of the number of seizures compared to Border Force (13%)

Figure 1: Number of seizures of total drugs, Class A, Class B and Class C drugs, police forces and Border Force, years ending March 2007 to 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 1

The MDA divides drugs into 3 categories: Class A, B and C. These are classed according to the harm caused to the user or to society when they are misused. Class A drugs are considered the most harmful. For more information on drug classifications, please see the user guide.

When police forces make a drug seizure, the seizure is recorded, as is the drug offence. Therefore, the total number of drug seizures per year follows a similar trend to the number of police recorded drug offences (shown in figure 2). Statistics on the number of police recorded drug offences are published on a quarterly basis by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) - see Drug misuse in England and Wales - Appendix table. This includes offences for possession of controlled drugs, trafficking in controlled drugs, and other drug offences. These statistics show that during the year ending March 2023, police forces recorded 178,639 drug offences, around the same as the previous year (179,315).

There was a 3% decrease in the number of stop and searches for drugs in the year ending March 2023 (331,856) compared to the previous year (340,817), as noted in Police powers and procedures statistics. Since the peak in the year ending March 2009 (243,536), the number of drug offences recorded by the police has decreased by 27% from 243,536 to 178,639. Similarly the number of drug seizures by police forces has decreased in the same time period, by 29% from 233,793 to 165,789.

Figure 2: Index of police recorded drug offences and the total number of drug seizures by police forces, years ending March 2007 to 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 1. Office for National Statistics (ONS), Crime in England and Wales, year ending March 2023; appendix table A4

Notes:

1. Based on an index created by dividing figures for each year by the figure for 2006 to 2007, and multiplying by 100.

2.1 Class A drugs

In the year ending March 2023, there were 33,049 seizures of Class A drugs, an 11% decrease on the previous year (37,115 seizures).

Powder cocaine: the number of powder cocaine seizures increased by 4% in 2023 compared to the previous year (from 18,228 to 18,978 seizures). This is the highest number of powder cocaine seizures recorded since 2009 to 2010. Powder cocaine accounted for over half (57%) of all Class A seizures.

Heroin: around one-fifth (19%) of all Class A seizures involved heroin, the second most commonly seized Class A drug, with 6,385 seizures in the year ending March 2023. This was a 6% decrease on the previous year’s total of 6,814 seizures following a downward trend since 2020 to 2021.

Crack cocaine: seizures of crack cocaine increased by 2% from 5,949 in the year ending March 2022, to 6,064 in the latest year, as shown in figure 3.

Ecstasy: the number of ecstasy seizures decreased by 36% compared to the previous year from 2,474 to 1,576, as shown in figure 3.

Methadone: seizures of methadone decreased by 14% from 573 to 495 in the year ending March 2023.

LSD: seizures of LSD decreased by 75%, from 1,038 in the year ending March 2022 to 264 in the year ending March 2023.

Morphine: the number of morphine seizures increased by 26% from 199 to 250 seizures when compared with the previous year.

Fentanyl: there were 18 seizures of fentanyl and 3 seizures of fentanyl analogues in the year ending March 2023. This follows a similar trend to previous years, and the total number of seizures of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues remain low.

Figure 3: Number of seizures of the main Class A drug types, police forces and Border Force, years ending March 2007 to March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 1

2.2 Class B drugs

In the year ending March 2023, there were 145,530 seizures of Class B drugs, a 5% increase compared with the previous year (139,227 seizures).

Gamma-Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB), and the closely-related substances Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) and 1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BD) were reclassified from Class C to Class B on 13 April 2022. GBL and 1,4-BD are reported within ‘Other Class B’ drugs within this publication for seizures made by police forces, however due to limitations with Border Force data, seizures of GBL and 1,4-BD remain in ‘Other Class C’ drugs for seizures made by Border Force. GHB is reported as an individual Class B drug for seizures made by Border Force and police forces. Please see the notes sheet in the data tables for more details.

2.2.1 Cannabis

There were 140,370 seizures of cannabis in the year ending March 2023, a 7% increase from the previous year (131,668). Border force seized the highest number of total cannabis seizures on record in the year ending March 2023 (20,211).

Cannabis has consistently accounted for the majority of overall seizures. For example, in the year ending March 2023 cannabis was present in 73% of all seizures made by Border Force and police forces. Therefore, the number of cannabis seizures made in a given year will strongly influence overall trends.

Herbal cannabis: most (87%) cannabis seizures involved herbal cannabis. The number of herbal cannabis seizures increased by 4% from 117,546 to 122,657 between the years ending March 2022 and 2023. Border Force seized the highest number of herbal cannabis seizures on record in the year ending March 2023 (19,105 seizures), a 165% increase from the previous year. Police forces made 122,657 seizures in the year ending March 2023, a 4% increase from the previous year

Cannabis resin: seizures of cannabis resin increased by 60% from 6,513 to 10,396 in the year ending March 2023. This is the highest number of cannabis resin seizures since year ending March 2012.

Cannabis plants: the number of seizures of cannabis plants decreased by 3% from 10,139 to 9,863 in the year ending March 2023.

Figure 4: Number of cannabis seizures, police forces and Border Force, years ending March 2007 to 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 1

2.2.2 Further Class B drugs

‘Other Class B drugs’: the number of ‘Other Class B’ drugs were the second most commonly seized Class B drug (behind cannabis), with 2,507 seizures in the year ending March 2023, a decrease of 42% from the previous year (4,304). An example of ‘Other Class B’ drugs is THC cannabis oil.

Amphetamines: in the year ending March 2023, there were 2,482 seizures of amphetamines, a 23% decrease on the previous year (3,243 seizures).

Ketamine: in the year ending March 2023, there were 1,487 seizures of ketamine, an 11% increase on the previous year (1,336 seizures). This increase was driven by a 34% increase in the number of seizures made by police forces (995 to 1,337).

Synthetic cannabinoids: the number of seizures of synthetic cannabinoids decreased by 63% from 1,731 to 637 in the year ending March 2023.

GHB: seizures of GHB decreased by 26%, from 78 in the year ending March 2022 to 58 in the year ending March 2023.

Mephedrone (non-injection): seizures of mephedrone (non-injection) increased by 15%, from 20 in the year ending March 2022 to 23 in the latest year.

2.3 Class C drugs

The total number of Class C drugs seized decreased by 4% between the years ending March 2022 and 2023, from 7252 to 6,968 seizures.

‘Other Class C’: the number of seizures of ‘Other Class C’ drugs (4,609) make up 66% of all Class C seizures in the year ending March 2023. This was an 11% increase compared to the previous year (4,158). Examples of ‘Other Class C’ drugs include khat and pregabalin.

Benzodiazepines: 27% of all seizures of Class C drugs involved benzodiazepines, with the number of seizures decreasing by 25% from 2,485 in the year ending March 2022 to 1,860 in the year ending March 2023.

2.4 Unknown substances

In the year ending March 2023, the number of seizures of unknown substances increased by 4% from 17,870 in the previous year to 18,643. Unknown substances were present in 10% of all seizures made in the year ending March 2023. Where a drug is described as ‘unknown’ or ‘drug not known’, this generally means that police or Border Force have seized substances which they cannot easily identify.

3. Quantity of drugs seized

Annual totals of the quantity of drugs seized can be greatly influenced by a small number of large seizures. As with the number of drug seizures, any large quantity of drugs seized should not be taken as an indication of drug use prevalence or availability.

3.1 Class A drugs

Powder cocaine: a similar quantity of powder cocaine was seized in the year ending March 2023 (18.58 tonnes) compared with the previous year (18.77 tonnes), and is the second largest recorded quantity of powder cocaine since records began (behind year ending March 2022).

Police forces seized 3.36 tonnes of powder cocaine in the year ending March 2023. This is a 100% increase compared to the previous year and is the largest quantity of powder cocaine seized by police forces since records began. Border Force seized 82% (15.22 tonnes) of the quantity of powder cocaine seized in the year ending March 2023. This was a decrease of 11% from 17.09 tonnes in the year ending March 2022.

As shown in figure 6, 62% of powder cocaine seizures were under 1g, 35% were between 1g and 500g, and the remaining 3% weighed 500g and over. There was an increase in the number of seizures that contained 100kg or more by police forces, which is likely to have driven the overall increase in quantity.

Heroin: the total quantity of heroin seized in the year ending March 2023 was 0.95 tonnes, a 33% decrease from the 1.41 tonnes seized in the previous year. This ended a period of large quantities of heroin being seized between year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2022, bringing the latest figures to pre-2019 to 2020 levels. The decrease was largely driven by a 41% reduction in the quantity of heroin seized by Border Force, from 1.12 tonnes in the year ending March 2022 to 0.66 tonnes in the latest year.

64% of heroin seizures were under 1g, 34% were between 1g and 500g, and the remaining 2% of seizures weighed 500g and over.

Crack cocaine: in the year ending March 2023, 54kg of crack cocaine was seized. This is a 25% increase compared to the previous year. As shown in figure 6, 60% of seizures weighed under 1g, and 39% weighed between 1g and 500g.

Seizures of crack cocaine made by Border Force increased from 0.01kg in the year ending March 2022 to 3kg in the year ending March 2023. Border Force generally make up a small number of seizures containing large quantities of crack cocaine in a given year. This leads to the quantity of crack cocaine seized by Border Force to fluctuate year-on-year. Police forces accounted for the vast majority of crack cocaine seizures (94%), as with previous years.

Figure 5: Quantity of powder cocaine and heroin seized, police forces and Border Force, years ending March 2007 to March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 2

Figure 6: Distribution of quantities of Class A drugs seized, summarised in grams, police forces and Border Force, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 3

Notes:

1. Numbers may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Ecstasy: the total quantity of ecstasy seized increased by 161% from 0.60 million doses to 1.56 million doses between the years ending March 2022 and 2023. This was driven by a 213% increase in the quantity of ecstasy seized by Border Force (432,150 to 1.35 million). The quantity of ecstasy seized in the year ending March 2023 was similar to the quantity seized in year ending March 2021. As shown in figure 7, 63% of ecstasy seizures in the year ending March 2023 involved 10 or fewer doses.

Methadone: the total quantity of methadone seized decreased by 62% in the year ending March 2023. This was a reduction from 104,650 doses in the previous year to 39,560 doses in the year ending March 2023. There were large decreases in the quantity of methadone seized from both police forces (-62%) and Border Force (-70%).

LSD: the quantity of LSD seized by police forces and Border Force (38,490 doses) remains similar compared to the previous year (38,470 doses).

Morphine: a total of 18,380 doses of morphine were seized in the year ending March 2023. This is a 44% increase from 12,750 doses that were seized in the year ending March 2022. The quantity of morphine seized in the year ending March 2023 was similar to the quantity seized in year ending March 2020.

Fentanyl: fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are recorded in 3 different preparation types: doses, kilograms and wraps. A total of 112 doses, 1kg and 1 wrap of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues were seized by police forces and Border Force in the year ending March 2023.

Figure 7: Distribution of quantities of Class A drugs seized, summarised in doses, police forces and Border Force, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; supplementary table 2

Notes:

1. Numbers may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

3.2 Class B drugs

3.2.1 Cannabis

Herbal cannabis: the total quantity of herbal cannabis seized in the year ending March 2023 increased by 96% from the previous year, from 35.44 tonnes to 69.30 tonnes. This is the largest recorded quantity of herbal cannabis seized since records began. 18% of herbal cannabis seizures weighed less than 1g and 68% weighed from 1g up to 500g.

In the year ending March 2023, Border Force seized the largest quantity of herbal cannabis on record (46.79 tonnes), a 142% increase from the previous year. Border Force made 31 seizures of herbal cannabis containing 100kg or more in the year ending March 2023, compared to 22 in the previous year. This drove the increase in overall quantity seized.

Seizures made by police forces increased by 39% from 16.14 tonnes in the year ending March 2022 to 22.51 in the year ending March 2023. This is the largest quantity of herbal cannabis seized by police forces since 1994.

Cannabis resin: the total quantity of cannabis resin seized in the year ending March 2023 increased by 140% compared with the previous year, from 0.61 tonnes to 1.47 tonnes. The quantity of cannabis resin seized by Border Force increased by 117%, from 422kg to 918kg. Similarly, the quantity of cannabis resin seized by police forces increased by 192%, from 188kg to 549kg. As shown in figure 9, 21% of cannabis resin seizures in the year ending March 2023 weighed less than 1g and 76% weighed from 1g up to 500g. This is similar to the distribution of the quantity of cannabis resin seizures in the previous year.

Cannabis plants: in the year ending March 2023, a total of 0.52 million cannabis plants were seized, a decrease of 34% from the previous year when 0.79 million plants were seized. Almost all (~100%) of these seizures were made by police forces. As shown in figure 10, 69% of cannabis plant seizures involved 10 plants or fewer in the year ending March 2023. This may however be a result of limitations to cannabis plant recording systems, which mean in some instances ‘1’ cannabis plant is recorded by default when there were too many plants to count, resulting in under-recording.

Figure 8: Quantity of cannabis seized, police forces and Border Force, years ending March 2007 to March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 2

Figure 9: Distribution of quantities of herbal cannabis and cannabis resin seized, police forces and Border Force, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; supplementary table 2

Notes:

1. Numbers may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Figure 10: Distribution of quantities of cannabis plants seized, police forces and Border Force, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; supplementary table 2.

Notes:

1. Numbers may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

3.2.2 Other Class B drugs

Ketamine: a total of 1.43 tonnes of ketamine were seized in the year ending March 2023. Although this was a 22% decrease from the previous year (1.84 tonnes), this is the second largest total quantity of ketamine seizures on record (behind year ending March 2022). Police forces seized the largest quantity of ketamine on record in the year ending March 2023, which was a 189% increase compared to the previous year (173kg to 500kg). Border force seized the second largest quantity of ketamine on record, after the peak in 2021 to 2022.

As shown in figure 11, the large majority of ketamine seizures contain small quantities of ketamine: 51% of ketamine seizures weighed less than 1g and 42% of seizures weighed between 1g and 500g.

Amphetamines: overall, in the year ending March 2023, 331kg of amphetamines were seized, a 36% increase on the previous year, when 243kg were seized. Police forces seized 286kg, a 75% increase on the previous year when 163kg were seized. Border Force seizures of amphetamines decreased by 44% between the years ending March 2022 and 2023, from 80kg to 45kg.

As with ketamine, in the year ending March 2023 the large majority of amphetamine seizures contained small quantities of amphetamines: 54% of seizures weighed less than 1g and 40% weighed between 1g and 500g.

Synthetic cannabinoids: in the year ending March 2023, a total of 3,597 doses and 46kg of synthetic cannabinoids were seized. Quantities of synthetic cannabinoid seizures have increased for both doses and in weight, compared with the previous year (64% and 42% respectively).

GHB: the quantity of GHB seized decreased by 71%, from 21kg to 6kg between the years ending March 2022 and 2023.

Figure 11: Distribution of quantities of amphetamines and ketamine seized, police force and Border Force, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 3

Notes:

1. Numbers may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

3.3 Class C drugs

Anabolic steroids: the total quantity of anabolic steroids seized decreased by 70%, from 2.50 million doses to 0.75 million doses between years ending March 2022 and 2023. This was largely driven by a 71% reduction of the quantity of anabolic steroids seized by Border Force (from 2.44 million doses to 0.70 million doses). The quantity seized by police forces also fell, from 64,210 doses to 51,420 doses. As shown in figure 12, 40% of anabolic steroid seizures involved 10 doses or fewer in the year ending March 2023.

Figure 12: Distribution of quantities of anabolic steroids, police forces and Border Force, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; supplementary table 2

Notes:

1. Numbers may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Benzodiazepines: the total quantity of benzodiazepines seized increased by 120% between the years ending March 2022 and 2023, from 210,890 doses to 463,580 doses.

These figures for benzodiazepines are for police forces’ seizures only; from year ending March 2011 onwards, seizures of benzodiazepines could not be separately identified from the Border Force’s recording system, and instead are reported in the ‘Other Class C’ category.

Temazepam: police forces seized 2,160 doses of temazepam in the year ending March 2023, an 89% decrease from the previous year when 18,960 doses were seized. Border Force seized 18,030 doses of temazepam in the year to March 2023, an increase of 403% from the previous year when 3,580 doses were seized.

4. Seizures by authority

4.1 Number of seizures by authority

In the year ending March 2023, most (87%) seizures were made by police forces (165,789); the remaining 13% (25,834) were made by Border Force. The total number of seizures made by police forces in England and Wales fell by 1% in the year ending March 2023 compared with the previous year. However the total number of seizures made by Border Force over the same time period rose by 24%, which drove the total number of seizures made in the year ending March 2023 to increase by 1%.

Table 1: Number of seizures made by police forces and Border Force, years ending 2022 and 2023

	Police forces year ending March 2022	Police forces year ending March 2023	Police forces % change	Border Force year ending March 2022	Border Force year ending March 2023	Border Force % change
Class A	29,236	30,499	+4%	7,879	2,550	-68%
Class B	128,840	124,551	-3%	9,801	20,979	+102%
Class C	4,385	4,548	+4%	3,453	2,420	-16%
All drugs	168,050	165,789	-1%	20,879	25,834	+24%

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 1

Notes:

1. In the year ending March 2023, police forces accounted for 92% of all seizures of Class A drugs, 86% of all seizures of Class B drugs and 65% of seizures of Class C drugs.
2. For Class A drugs, police forces were responsible for almost all seizures of crack cocaine, 98% of heroin, 97% of powder cocaine and 96% of morphine.
3. For Class B seizures, police forces were responsible for 86% of cannabis seizures, 93% of amphetamine seizures and 82% of ‘Other Class B’ seizures.
4. For Class C seizures, 92% of the temazepam seizures were attributed to police forces and 100% of benzodiazepine seizures recorded were from police forces because Border Force are not able to identify these separately on their system.
5. Police forces were also responsible for 58% of anabolic steroids seizures and 54% of ‘Other Class C’ seizures.

Figure 13: Proportion of drug seizure numbers by drug type and authority, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 4

4.2 Quantity of seizures by authority

Border Force activity accounted for 13% of drug seizures in the year ending March 2023, but they seized a much higher proportion of the quantity of drugs than police forces. This is because Border Force is often involved in operations where large quantities of drugs are seized, for example at airports or ferry ports.

Class A seizures: Border Force seized 82% (15.22 tonnes) of the total quantity of powder cocaine seized, 69% (660kg) of heroin and 87% (1.35 million doses) of ecstasy, as shown in figure 14.

Class B seizures: Border Force seized 68% (46.79 tonnes) of herbal cannabis, 13% (45kg) of amphetamines, 65% (934kg) of ketamine and 91% (6kg) of GHB.

Class C seizures: Border Force seized 93% (0.70 million doses) of anabolic steroids and 89% (18,000 doses) of temazepam.

Police forces seized a higher percentage of the quantity of crack cocaine (94%), methadone (100%), morphine (97%), cannabis plants (100%) and amphetamines (87%) than Border Force in the year ending March 2023.

Police forces seize a higher number of seizures than Border Force, which contain lower quantities of drugs. For example, in the year ending March 2023, 64% of police force seizures of powder cocaine weighed under 1g, compared to 3% of Border Force seizures.

Figure 14: Proportion of drug seizure quantities by drug type and authority, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 5

Figure 15: Distribution of drug seizure quantities of powder cocaine by authority, year ending March 2023

Figure 16: Distribution of drug seizure quantities of heroin by authority, year ending March 2023

Figure 17: Distribution of drug seizure quantities of herbal cannabis by authority, year ending March 2023

Figure 18: Distribution of drug seizure quantities of ecstasy by authority, year ending March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; summary table 3

Notes:

1. Border Force’s numbers do not sum to 100% due to unknown banded quantities.

5. New psychoactive substances (NPS)

5.1 Number of NPS seizures

In the year ending March 2023, there were 2,739 seizures of all NPS drugs, a 10% decrease compared with the previous year (3,054 seizures). It is important to note that there are many different types of NPS drugs, some of which are new emerging ones, meaning they can be difficult to identify and record. For this reason, some NPS drugs may be recorded in ‘NPS other’ whilst some may appear in the ‘Unknown’ category.

NPS other: there was a 29% increase in the number of ‘NPS other’ seizures in the year ending March 2023. This is an increase from 918 seizures to 1,185 seizures.

Nitrous oxide: in the year ending March 2023, there were 761 seizures of nitrous oxide. This is an increase of 142% on the year previously, when there were 314 seizures.

Synthetic cannabinoids: in the year ending March 2023, there were 637 seizures of synthetic cannabinoids, a decrease of 63% from the previous year.

NPS powders: There were 181 seizures of NPS powders in the year ending March 2023. This is a 32% decrease from the previous year of 266 seizures.

Figure 19: Number of NPS seizures by drug type and authority, years ending March 2022 and 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; appendix table 1

5.2 Quantity of NPS seizures

Nitrous oxide: a total of 1.34 million doses of nitrous oxide were seized by police forces and Border Force in the year ending March 2023; this comprised of 46,571 doses seized by police forces and 1.29 million doses seized by Border Force. Border Force seized 97% of the total quantity of nitrous oxide seized, 20% fewer doses than the previous year.

NPS other: as shown in figure 21, a total of 7,238 doses of ‘NPS other’ were seized by police forces and Border Force in the year ending March 2023, of which 46% (3,309 doses) were seized by Border Force.

As shown in figure 22, a total of 783kg of ‘NPS other’ (weighed) were seized, representing a 467% increase from the previous year (138kg); most of these seizures were by Border Force (nearly 100%; 780kg).

NPS powders: a total of 108kg of NPS powders were seized in the year ending March 2023, a 177% increase from the previous year (39kg). Border Force seized 94% of the total NPS powders in the year ending March 2023.

Synthetic cannabinoids: a total of 3,597 doses of synthetic cannabinoids were seized in the year ending March 2023. This represents a 64% increase from the year ending March 2022. Nearly 100% of these (3,596 doses) were seized by police forces.

A total of 46kg of synthetic cannabinoids were seized in the year ending March 2023, 35kg (77%) of which were seized by Border Force.

Figure 20: Quantities of nitrous oxide seized (doses) by authority, years ending March 2022 and March 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; appendix table 2

Figure 21: Quantities of other NPS and synthetic cannabinoids seized (doses) by authority, years ending March 2022 and 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; appendix table 2

Figure 22: Quantities of NPS drugs seized by drug type and authority, summarised in kilograms, years ending March 2022 and 2023

Source: Home Office, Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2023: data tables; appendix table 2

6. Interpreting the figures and related publications

For information related to data quality, please see the user guide.

The latest drug seizure statistics for Scotland are available online on the Scottish Government website.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) collects and publishes data on drug seizures by police in Northern Ireland. They are available online on the Police Service of Northern Ireland website.

A quarterly breakdown of Border Force seizures in the UK is available online as part of their regular key performance indicators in their Border Force transparency data.

The extent and trends in illicit drug use among adults aged 16 to 59 is measured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). The latest results covering the period ending March 2023 were published by ONS on 15 December 2023. According to the CSEW, for the year ending March 2023, around 9.5% of adults had taken an illicit drug in the last year. This was a similar proportion as the previous year. Please see the latest versions of the Drug misuse: Findings from the 2022 to 2023 CSEW and the Crime Survey in England and Wales appendix (data) tables for further details.

The Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England is published by NHS Digital and contains results from a survey of school children in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15). Based on the 2021 survey (which was published on 6th September 2022), 18% of pupils reported they had ever taken drugs. This was lower than the 24% reported in the 2016 and 2018 surveys, and similar to the 2010 level of 18%.

Frequency of release: Annual

Forthcoming release: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Amy Baxter

Press enquires: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk, Telephone: 020 7035 3535

Public enquires: drugseizures.datacollection@homeoffice.gov.uk