Drug Seizures and Offender Characteristics, 2024-25

Analysis of the characteristics of drug possession crimes

Information about the offenders of drug possession crimes and how they came to the attention of the police was also recorded in the sampling process.

Characteristics of offenders

• In 2024-25, the vast majority of drug possession crimes were committed by one offender. Only 2% of crimes had multiple offenders in 2024-25 (these situations can occur where offenders collectively admit to ownership of the seized drugs, or if no one admits to ownership).

• The clear majority of drug possession crimes were committed by males or all male groups (84%).

• The median age of a drug possession offender was 32 years old and over half (58%) of offenders were in the 20-29 and 30-39 years age groups. Offenders are far more likely to come from these two age groups than would be expected based solely on their size within the general population (26%). Table 6 shows the age distribution of the offenders in the sample.

How Police Scotland became aware of drug possession crimes

The circumstances leading to a drug possession seizure have been recorded based on the details of the event within the crime record. As crime records have not been created specifically for this purpose, it has been necessary on occasion to make assumptions around certain aspects of what happened. As such this information should be seen as a broad illustration, rather than a precise measure.

In 2024-25, it is estimated that under half (44%) of drug possession crimes in the sample were detected by police while on routine patrol. The majority of these were cases where police officers on patrol had a suspicion or observed that the offender was in possession of drugs, with this category accounting for 32% of all records reviewed. A further 12% of records involved police on patrol dealing with another crime, offence or incident and finding drugs while doing this.

Just under a third (31%) of drug possession crimes were detected as a result of police responding to a report of a crime, offence or another reported incident, either in relation to the drugs offence or for another matter (either criminal or non-criminal). A further 15% of drug possession seizures were made by police whilst carrying out a search warrant (likely due to the receipt of intelligence that an individual was involved in drugs crime).

Other information about the drug possession crimes

• In 2024-25, the most common days of the week for drug possession crimes to take place were a Thursday and a Saturday, with 18% of seizures occurring on each of these days. The least common day was a Monday, with only 7% of seizures occurring on this day of the week.

• The most common location for drug possession crimes to take place was the street or other open space with 55% of records reviewed having this locus in 2024-25. Dwellings were the next most common locus, where 26% of drug possession crimes took place in 2024-25.

• In 15% of records reviewed the offender was the driver of a motor vehicle when searched and found to be in possession of drugs. It should be noted that this does not provide information on whether the offender was driving under the influence of drugs at the time, only that they were in possession of drugs.