asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Customs and Excise officers were employed, in each year since 1979, solely for the purpose of drug detection tasks.

[pursuant to his reply, 21 June 1985, c. 232]: The number of Customs and Excise officers employed solely on drugs investigation work was as follows:

	Number
1979	121
1980	133
1981	152
1982	183
1983	201
1984	212

About 30 full-time support staff are currently employed and, as announced on 11 June, a further 50 specialist investigative posts are being added in 1985.In addition, the government announced last October an additional 160 officers solely for drugs work. A further 2,715 customs officers are employed on preventive work, an important part of which involves the detection of drugs.