Drugs with an estimated value of three quarters of a million pounds have been seized in the Highlands and Islands this year, BBC Scotland has learned.

Cannabis, amphetamine and heroin were most prevalent, according to details in the Northern Constabulary reports.

During 2006, the force said it removed drugs worth about £235,056, which was heading to small communities.

Large amounts of the drugs have come from the Merseyside area and then supplied by locals.

A senior officer with Merseyside Police told the BBC Scotland News website “intelligent guess work” suggested gangs were trying to exploit new territory because the networks in Merseyside were saturated and tightly controlled by organised groups or crime families.

Significant seizures and alleged incidents are reported to the Northern Joint Police Board by Chief Constable Ian Latimer.

Starting from March’s meeting, which saw figures for January and February presented to board members, hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs have been seized by officers.

This included £50,000 of class A drugs in Inverness and £400,000 recovered in the Western Isles reported in March.

Since then, £75,000-worth of drugs were traced in Ross, Cromarty and Skye, 2,000 ecstasy tablets and bars of cannabis with a street value estimated to be £14,000 and ecstasy believed to be worth £16,000 in Inverness.

Mr Latimer’s latest report to the board, which meets on Thursday, lists alleged cases totalling more than £73, 800 – amounting to almost £640,000 so far this year.

Smaller seizures during the year would add to this figure.

Weapons including a firearm, meat cleaver and knives were also confiscated by police during some of the incidents.

A senior officer with Merseyside Police said gangs and dealers from that region may be attempting to exploit new areas.

New dealers could also be trading on the “hard” reputation of Liverpool drug dealers.

The officer said the abuse of heroin was “frozen in time” in major cities where its use was a generational habit rather than something taken up by people new to drugs, or abusing other illegal substances.

However, this could be why it was appearing in the Highlands and Islands where there has not previously been significant abuse of the drug.

The officer stressed this was still speculation as the evidence was anecdotal and said Merseyside was no different from other large cities.

Mr Latimer told BBC Scotland that the figure for drugs seized so far this year amounted to “in excess of £500,000″.

He added that it was not a surprise that it was organised crime groups from big cities that were often involved.

Mr Latimer said: “Unfortunately, those crime groups have been established in big cities for long periods of time – butt they are linking up with local criminals here.

“It’s the local criminals on the ground in the Highlands and Islands that are supplying the drugs. They are the ones who are in the clubs, they’re the ones in the pubs and the ones on the street.”

David Alston, chairman of Highland Drug and Alcohol Action Team, hoped the figures showed there has been success in combating drugs.

He said the area being targeted by gangs from outside the Highlands was an issue and added that young children have to be equipped with the skills to make “intelligent decisions” if ever faced with drugs in the future.

Cocaine, Valium, MDMA (ecstasy), amphetamines and methadone have been seized by officers
Between August and September, drug search dogs were deployed on 37 occasions with varying results, police said
Police reported that “party bags” containing different drugs were detected during policing of the Rock Ness music festival

Related posts:

1. Officer resigns over drug arrest
2. Drugs worth £1m seized in raids
3. Cocaine use emerging in Highlands
4. Cannabis worth £16,000 seized
5. Merseyside Pc convicted over drugs charge
6. Police seize £6.5m worth of drugs
7. Police seize drugs worth £500,000 in Nottinghamshire
8. Five arrests after cocaine seized
9. Weapons seized during drugs swoop
10. ‘Crack cocaine’ seized in Black Country raids