Record breaking ketamine seizures have been reported by Border Force, with officers intercepting almost 1,300kg of the Class B drug in the first three months of 2026 alone, the highest amount recorded in 15 years. The figures, obtained exclusively by ITV News, offer a rare look at just how much of the drug is being stopped before it can reach the streets.

These seizures did not happen in isolation. In the same three month window, Border Force also intercepted more than 9,000kg of cocaine, a reminder of the sheer volume of illegal cargo moving through the UK’s ports at any given time.

Inside a Harwich Port drug bust

ITV News spent time with Border Force teams at Harwich Port in Essex, watching officers search lorries as they roll off ferries arriving from the Netherlands. Around 1,000 lorries pass through the port every single day, and each one represents a possible route for ketamine smuggling into the country.

Officers say much of their work comes down to spotting “intelligence led targets”, the small tell tale signs that can flag up a vehicle worth a closer look. Once a lorry is pulled aside, it is put through a scan using X ray technology, giving staff a clear view of what is hidden inside. When something looks off, specially trained sniffer dogs are brought in to confirm what the scanners have picked up.

At Harwich alone, officers have seized 300kg of ketamine over the past year, a single port figure that hints at the wider scale of the problem across the country.

Minister speaks on rising ketamine use

Jo White, the new minister for Migration and Citizenship, joined the visit and spoke about the approach being taken. “We’re identifying how ketamine is coming into this country, and we’re working hard to stop it,” she said.

She was also candid about the human impact sitting behind the numbers. “It is a cheap drug, but it is also a life changing drug and too many young people are taking ketamine and putting their lives at risk, and this work is so, so valuable.”

Classification decision still pending

The jump in ketamine seizures lands at an awkward moment for the government, which is still deciding whether the drug’s legal classification needs to change. Ketamine currently sits as a Class B substance, meaning someone caught in possession can face up to five years in prison. In January, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the government’s independent panel on drug policy, recommended that ketamine stay as it is. Since then, calls for a firmer decision have only grown louder.

Pressed on the timeline, White gave little away. “We’re still considering it, and it’s something we will be responding to very shortly.”

A wider crackdown on dangerous drugs

The announcement comes shortly after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed a new agreement with the UK’s Five Eyes partners, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, designed to strengthen the international response to synthetic opioids. These drugs can be between 50 and 500 times more potent than heroin, and more than 1,000 confirmed deaths in the UK have already been linked to them between June 2023 and June 2025.

What happens next

Taken together, the figures point to a drugs market that keeps shifting, with border teams working to stay ahead of new ketamine trafficking routes while ministers weigh up their next move on classification. For now, the message coming out of Harwich and Whitehall alike is one of pressure kept firmly on. With ketamine seizures at their highest level in over a decade, the bigger question, whether tougher penalties will follow, remains unanswered.

Source: dbrecoveryresources