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Table SZR-0. Seizures of illicit drugs
Part (ii) Methodological comments
| Country | Methodological comments: geographical coverage, double-counting, inconsistencies and other methodological issues | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | National coverage. | No double-counting, numbers and quantitites of seizures are based on the national police registry. | |
| Bulgaria | National coverage. | Double-counting between different agencies is possible however quantities are considered not significant. 2002 data refer only to seizures made by NACOC. | |
| Czech Republic | National coverage. | Accurate data are not available before 2002 due to double counting of seizures by police and customs reports. | |
| Denmark | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Germany | National coverage. | Numbers of seizures are based on police register. | |
| Estonia | National coverage. | All law enforcement agencies (LEA) report under the same forensic institute, there is a general reporting system for all agencies, no double-counting. The majority of drug seizures are made by the police. | |
| Ireland | National coverage. | No double-counting; all data provided derives from the Forensic Science Laboratory although some of the substances may have been seized by either Customs or Police but the seizure agency is not distinguished in the reported data. Not all drugs seized by law enforcement (Garda Síochana and Customs) are necessarily analysed by the Forensic Science laboratory. If no individual is identified in relation to the drug seizure and no prosecution takes place, the drugs may not be reported. The number of cannabis plants does not reflect the total number detected as only a sample of plants are analysed for practical reasons. There may be some large cannabis and cannabis resin cases without a suspect and no analysis was conducted. Cocaine and crack seizures are reported together. | |
| Greece | National coverage. | No double-counting. Over the period 1985 - 1994 only police seizures are included. Since 1995 seizures of all LEA are included. | |
| Spain | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| France | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Italy | National coverage. | No double-counting; all data provided derives from the Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Services, Ministry of the Interior | |
| Cyprus | National coverage. | In 2008 number of seizures were not available. | |
| Latvia | National coverage. | Only one agency performs analysis thus it is controlled for double counting; all data provided derives from State Police Forensic research department / electronic (LUPA PRO). The number of MDMA tablets is calculated dividing the weight of all MDMA tablets by the mean weight of one tablet. | |
| Lithuania | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Luxembourg | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Hungary | National coverage. | Materials containing various substances are double counted (i.e powders containing amphetamine and fluoramphetamine are reported in 3.1.1-2 and 3.1.5-6 as amphetamine and amphetamine derivatives). In 2011 all seizures (Customs and Police) were analyzed by the Hungarian Institute for Forensic Sciences (BSZKI). | |
| Malta | National coverage. | : | |
| Netherlands | National coverage. (29 reporting agencies) Since 2008 data is not submitted. | Both 2004 and 2005 data are based on seizures made only by some police forces: they are not comparable between them, nor with previous years. In 2007, 23 of the 29 agencies reported all data. In 2008 the real number of seizures is unknown. Registration methods and definitions differ per police region, which leads to unreliability in the information and makes it difficult to interpret the figures. We truncate the figures and seizures less than 10kg/liters are not reported. Due to different methods and definitions among agencies and among the years, figures do not permit conclusions about developments and trends. They must be seen as a minimum estimate of seized drugs in the Netherlands. Due to inadequate coverage (4 out of 25 police-regions did not report (all of the) seizures) data are considered too unreliable to be reported. Data are incomplete for the last years and situation did not show an improvement in 2009. In 2010 national data, but not complete, 4 out of 25 police regions did not submit any figur | |
| Austria | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Poland | National coverage. | Double - counting is possible due to the participation of two LEA (Police and Border Guard) in the same intervention. Up to 2003 the number of large seizures are only reported; from 2004 all seizures are reported. | |
| Portugal | National coverage. | No double-counting. Seizures that involve more than one substance are counted in each of the categories involved. | |
| Romania | National coverage. | No double-counting. Since 1st July 2010, at national level, the cannabis herb seizures has been counted separately from cannabis plant and vegetal fragments of cannabis type. | |
| Slovenia | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Slovakia | National coverage. | No double-counting. Before 2011 cannabis plants were recorded in kg. In 2011, due that the number in kg represents only a small part of seizures, data for cannabis plants are provided in both number of plants and in kg. | |
| Finland | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Sweden | National coverage. | No double-counting. Cocaine and crack seizures are reported together and cannabis plants are included in herbal cannabis. | |
| United Kingdom | England and Wales both police and customs and Scotland and Northern Ireland only police seizures. | Before 2006 data have been reported on a calendar year basis. Since 2006 seizures data will be published on a financial year basis (Data reported for 2006 is for 2006/07, data reported in 2007 is for 2007/08 and so on). There are no customs data for Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2006. Before 2007 data for Scotland are not available. Over the period 2008-2010 data are available for England and Wales only; no data for Scotland and Northern Ireland is available. (England and Wales reported both police and customs seizures). In 2006 Scotland accounted approximately for 10% of the total number of seizures although for some drugs this is higher; cannabis resin (25%) and heroin (20%). No double counting; seizures from joint operations involving HM Revenue & Customs and the police are usually recorded against HM Revenue & Customs. Set of complete UK data was only submitted in 2006/07 and 2010/2011. In 2011/12 data are currently only available for England and Wales and Northern Ireland.These changes are likely to | |
| Croatia | National coverage. | No double-counting | |
| Turkey | National coverage. | No double-counting. Over the period 1985 - 1994 only police seizures are included. Since 1995 seizures of all narcotics units (TPN's) are included. In 2009 data includes both narcotics units (TPN's) and police stations actions. This change is likely to affect comparability across time. Due to difficulties in measuring/counting cannabis plants quantity is not available. Crack is included in cocaine cases and captagon tablets mainly with amphetamine content considered as amphetamine tablets. | |
| Norway | National coverage. | No double-counting |