HUGE RISE IN HEROIN HAUL

Customs officers have recorded the biggest ever rise in the amount of
heroin seized in Britain.

Hauls more than doubled in 1997 to almost two tonnes of the drug, a customs
report said, blaming the rise on changes in the choice of drugs of
recreation.

But a spokesman for the Customs and Excise National Investigations Service
said the dramatic rise in seizures could be put down to the efficiency of
investigations operations.

He said: "There is more coming in but our methods are proving successful
nationally and internationally."

Customs officials say large quantities of the drug are being smuggled into
the country through the Balkans by organised Turkish gangs.

Another report, by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), blamed
the explosion of organized crime in Russia for the channelling of drugs to
the rest of Europe.

The National Investigations Service, set up 18 months ago to tackle drug
smuggling, published yearly figures for the first time since the service
became operational.

It reports that cocaine seizures are also up, with the quantity seized in
1997 around 50% up on the previous 12 months.

A spokesman denied claims that Britain was becoming the "drug warehouse"
for heroin supplies to western Europe and the US.