Police figures show there were 5597 drug seizures and 2953 arrests during that year. Trevor Lunn said: “These figures from the police on drug seizures are very welcome news and I congratulate all involved. These were the highest levels of seizure in ten years, and resulted in removing harmful and potentially lethal substances from our streets.
“In many cases the trade in illegal drugs is linked to organised crime gangs or paramilitary groups, so all drugs taken from them reduces the amount of money available for them to further hurt the community. Drug dealers do not recognise borders and the PSNI has worked closely with An Garda Síochaná and Border Force UK to tackle drugs crime.
“While some of the drugs seized include prescription drugs and new psychoactive substances, commonly known as legal highs, people should be under no illusion about the harm these can cause to anyone using them.
Mr Lunn concluded: “In achieving these successes the PSNI has successfully worked to generate confidence across many communities, resulting in good reliable information coming forward. It is vital that this information flow continues so we are able to remove this scourge from our streets.”