Surge in West Mercia drug crime during lockdown despite less crime overall

There were 456 drug offences recorded in West Mercia from March 23, the day the coronavirus lockdown began, to May 25. That is a rise of 18.8 per cent on the same period last year – 384.

From January 20 up to March 23 this year, 421 drugs offences were recorded in the region.

Data obtained by the Press Association news agency under Freedom of Information laws showed that across England and Wales, thousands more crimes linked to banned substances were recorded by police between March 23 and May 25 than in the same nine-week period last year.

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West Mercia Police's head of local policing Chief Superintendent Tom Harding said in response to the figures: "Despite lockdown we have continued to target those who cause the most harm in our communities including those involved in drugs and drugs supply."

Over the Welsh border however, Dyfed-Powys Police reported that drugs offences were down on last year.

In the March 23 to May 10 period this year 59 were recorded, compared to 74 in the same period last year.

In total, 26 English and Welsh forces that responded recorded a total of 25,665 drugs offences, including trafficking and possession, between March 23 and May 25 this year, compared with 20,220 in the same period in 2019.

There were 23,113 drug crimes recorded between January 20 and March 23 this year.

Meanwhile, the latest total national figures for all crime reported by the National Police Chiefs' Council showed a 25 per cent drop in England and Wales in the four-week period to May 10.

Home deliveries

Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police reported that some drug dealers had started providing home deliveries as their trade took a hit during lockdown.

The Met's commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, said: "We know some of the drug dealers, both in county lines and beyond, have adapted the way they operate. They have had to.

"There has certainly been talk of more home deliveries to people's houses by those who are brave. That's certainly what my local officers are telling me, that they are seeing more of that.

"People who aren't going out are asking for the drugs to come to them. That's putting the drug dealers more at risk and making them more obvious."

In the initial stage of the lockdown, National Crime Agency director Lynne Owens said that dealers were trying to disguise themselves as key workers by wearing hi-vis clothing and operating from supermarket car parks.

Gangs expert Professor Simon Harding also suggested that they were dressing as joggers and using fake NHS ID badges to move around freely.