Cannabis finds shoot up while ecstasy finds plummet

Police seized 111,275g of cannabis in 2014, a whopping 101,001g more than they had seized in 2013. Of this, 69,500.4g was cannabis grass while 41,774.9g was cannabis resin. Police also seized 376 cannabis seeds last year, compared with the 54 seeds that were seized in 2013.

43 cannabis joints were also seized last year, compared with 56 last year.

Cannabis plant finds also dropped, with the eight plants found last year contrasting sharply with the 27 found in 2013.

The information was tabled in Parliament by Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela in response to a parliamentary question by backbencher Anthony Agius Decelis.

This sudden spike was partially due to the seven people that were arrested on drug charges after arriving in Malta from Sicily last year. In total, the seven had brought 15,829g of cannabis over to Malta. In contrast, Abela said that no passengers from Sicily to Malta were caught with drugs on their person in 2013.

However, while cannabis finds soared, ecstasy finds plummeted. Police only seized 334 ecstasy pills in 2014, compared with the 30,374.5 they had found in 2013.

Last year, the police also seized 0.2g of crack cocaine, 5275.5g of cocaine, 1768.6g of heroin, 622.6k of khat, 9.05g of mephedrone, 7.8g of amphetamine, 7g of cutting agents, 5000ml of gamma-butyrolactone, and 2.4g of legal highs.