Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reports that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime registered a 43 percent increase in coca cultivation in Colombia in 2021 on drug-related crime in the UK.

The threats to the UK from illicit drugs and the implications of these threats for law enforcement are kept under regular assessment.

In December 2021, the Government launched its ten-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives. As part of this, £300 million has been allocated to fund activity to break drug supply chains from end-to-end.

This includes restricting upstream flow by expanding the networks of the National Crime Agency and Border Force officers posted to source and transit countries, ensuring we remain agile in the face of changing threats.

Alongside a strong law enforcement response, the UK is leveraging its diplomatic and overseas policy networks to secure political support from other governments and build our partners’ capacity to address the critical enablers of drug supplies into the UK.