Border Force is responsible for seizing drugs at ports, airports and international parcels depots. However, reports by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration suggest drug-detection efforts are hindered by understaffing, lack of training and focus on conducting passport checks on travellers. Most drug seizures are of small amounts: only 19% of seizures involve more than one kilogram of drugs.
larger image | annotated R code to produce this chart
Data source: Home Office, 2018
For estimates of the relative harmfulness of different controlled drugs, see ‘Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis’ by Nutt et al.
Reports on Border Force can be found on the website of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.
