‘Super-strong’ cocaine hits UK streets, highest death toll on record

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A deadly wave of “super-strength” cocaine is appearing across the UK as deaths linked to the party drug soar to record highs, The Independent has revealed.

Experts say the purity of powdered cocaine sold on the streets has risen sharply over the past decade amid South America’s cocaine boom, and users are unknowingly taking greater risks to their health than ever before.

In an undercover operation at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, which was attended by more than 200,000 people, The Independent collected samples of cocaine from toilet surfaces, which revealed that two out of three sent for analytical testing were 85% pure.

Former British drug lord Mike Trace said he was very concerned about the findings and urged the government to take urgent action on the ‘health scandal’ as the death toll continues to rise.

It comes as follows:

The purity of cocaine has increased from 32% 13 years ago to more than 80% today. Cocaine-related deaths in England and Wales will hit a record high of 1,279 in 2024, according to shocking figures. The UK had the highest cocaine consumption rate in Europe in 2023, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Real-time spending on adult drug and alcohol services decreased by 40%. The latest government figures on wastewater from 2014 to 2022 show that drug consumption in the UK has increased by a quarter in the past five years.

Cocaine use can cause heart attacks, strokes and seizures, according to the NHS, adding that mixing cocaine with alcohol can further increase the risk of overdose.

At Cheltenham on Gold Cup day in March, The Independent used wet wipes on toilet surfaces to find traces of cocaine, then collected 12 samples and sent them for testing at Kingston Analytical Services Toxicology (KAST) at Kingston University.

Initial testing detected cocaine in nearly all samples. Three were then sent for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) testing, which found two to be 85% pure, including one from Best Mate Enclosure’s diaper changing facility.

Cocaine trafficking routes originating from the Americas, according to 2023-24 seizures. The UK was the 6th most popular travel destination in the Americas after Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, France and Italy (UNODC Drug Monitoring Platform).

Dr Arijac Durrant, a postdoctoral researcher at the university who carried out the tests, told The Independent: “Here are two samples of high quality cocaine, much higher than what we typically see on the street. I’m not a medical expert, but I would suggest that there may be an increased risk of overdose for people taking these drugs who are used to taking lower purity substances.”

A spokesman for the Jockey Club, which runs the Cheltenham Festival, said it was “extremely disappointed” and that illegal drug use at many of its major events remained a widespread social problem.

The UK government does not release figures on cocaine purity, but the National Crime Agency estimated in 2013 that the average purity at “user level” was between 32 and 38 per cent.

Experts told The Independent that record cocaine production in South America, combined with increasingly diverse supply routes from Eastern Europe, had flooded the UK market with cocaine. This has reduced the need to cut it up with other materials before selling.

Peter Cain, drug science adviser at Eurofins Forensic Services, which tests drugs seized by police, said purity levels reached around 75% during COVID-19 and have since increased to more than 80% over the past five years.

Meanwhile, the European Union Drugs Agency said the average purity of cocaine reported in half of its member states rose to between 66% and 81% last year.

Cocaine found in toilets at Cheltenham Festival (The Independent).

“This is a buyer’s market,” Mr. Cain said. “Users are getting a stronger product and paying less, and this is a time when everyone else is paying more for beer and other products.”

Mr Trace, who was appointed drugs czar under Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government and is now CEO of drug and alcohol support service Forward Trust, said: “It’s very worrying that, as The Independent shows, we’re seeing higher levels of purity in more places – that’s where the mortality is coming from.”

“Unpredictably high purity is the biggest risk factor, because if someone buys a white powder from the dealer on a Friday night and says, ‘Okay, I think that’s what I typically get from that stuff,’ and they’re used to getting that much benefit from 30% pure stuff, if what they bought this Friday was 60% stuff, then there’s a problem.”

The latest data on hospital admissions for cocaine and crack cocaine use from 2017 to 2018 shows that number has tripled over the past decade. Meanwhile, the number of cocaine-related deaths increased for the 13th consecutive year, from 1,118 in 2023 to 1,279 in 2024, an increase of 14%.

Among those killed in the past decade was Lucy White, a third-year criminology student at the University of the West of England in Bristol. The coroner found she suffered a heart attack from class A drugs. Her sister, Stacey Jordan, later called for changes in education.

And last year, Cardiff teacher Emily Rose Browning, 24, died of a heart attack hours after taking cocaine during a night out, an inquest into her death was told, according to the BBC. The same year, Lindsey Strickland, 41, also died of a heart attack after taking cocaine during a night out with friends in Salford.

Lucy White (left) and her sister Stacey. Stacey wants to help others after Lucy dies of a drug overdose (Stacey Jordan).

Warrington North MP Charlotte Nicols warned in November that the Home Office was “fundamentally incompetent” in dealing with drug deaths and claimed it was showing “hostility” to solutions that did not involve additional crime.

Despite the 10-year drugs strategy launched by the Conservative government in 2021, figures from the National Audit Office show real spending on adult drug and alcohol treatment fell by 40% between 2015 and 2022.

Mr Trace wants the government to launch a drug testing program in towns and cities to test the purity of the drugs users take and develop a better understanding of drugs that could inform direct policy. He added: “Cocaine deaths are increasing every year and we are not taking it seriously enough. This has become a health scandal that we need to fix quickly.”

Dr. Arija Durrant of Kingston Analytical Services Toxicology tests samples using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (Kingston University).

Harry Sumnall, a professor of substance abuse at Liverpool John Moores University who advises the government on drugs policy, also raised concerns about the Independent’s findings, describing cocaine with a purity of more than 85% purity as “super strength”.

“What The Independent found indicates that we have a robust market for high purity cocaine. 85% is very high. We think we can realistically use these high purity drugs. [across the country] “It’s cheap, so people can buy it if they want.”

“The cocaine market has never been as dangerous and harmful as what we face today,” he added.

The UN’s World Drug Report 2025 shows that increased coca cultivation in Colombia will produce more than 3,708 tonnes of cocaine in 2023. A map showing the flow of drugs shows them arriving in the UK and other European countries by plane and ship.

Last year, five men were caught trying to smuggle £26.5 million worth of 89% pure cocaine onto the West Country coast in a speedboat. Cocaine weighing 332 kg was unloaded by a cargo ship. That same year, three men on a Cornish beach were chased away by police while picking up a pile of cocaine from the sea, much to the astonishment of onlookers who filmed the arrests.

The import and sale of cocaine in the UK is largely driven by Albanian organized crime groups, with a market value expected to reach £1.9 billion in 2020, according to an independent report authored by Dame Carol Black.

Major origin or transit countries for cocaine shipments as described in Reported Seizures, 2020-23 (UNODC)

Adam Thompson, head of drug threats at the NCA, said: “Cocaine production in South America is at an all-time high, driving wholesale prices for criminal gangs to historic lows. Cocaine purity has also increased in recent years as there is no need to dilute it to make a profit, given that some producers are supplying large quantities to the illicit market.”

“British law enforcement remains vigilant, but unless user demand is reduced, the fight to stem the supply of cocaine will continue.”

A Home Office spokesman said border security had been strengthened to tackle criminal gangs, with almost five tonnes of cocaine seized at one port in less than a month, giving criminal gangs £400m worth of drugs.

“We will continue to work across health, policing and public services to reduce drug use and stop those who profit from the drug supply.”

In Cheltenham, the Jockey Club targeted drug users with dogs searching the entrance and teams of security guards on patrol. Organizers also placed drug amnesty boxes at the entrance.

A spokesman said: “Illegal drug use remains a widespread social problem affecting many high profile incidents and we are extremely disappointed that this behavior occurs here.

“The Jockey Club operates a zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs and a number of measures have been implemented throughout the festival to deter and detect drug use, including sniffer dogs, bag searches, patrols at all entrances and amnesty boxes.”

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