Border Force seized 1.3 tonnes of ketamine during the first three months of 2026, its largest quarterly total for 15 years, the Home Office said. The figure underlines concern over the growing availability and health harms of the Class B drug, whose regular use can severely damage the bladder.

The same period saw officers intercept more than 59,000 doses of nitrous oxide and 9,000kg of cocaine; Harwich International Port alone seized 300kg of ketamine over the past year. Separate figures for England and Wales showed nearly 3,400 ketamine seizures in the year to March 2025, up 50%, amid reports that the drug is cheap, widely available and increasingly associated with serious urinary problems.