A SENIOR Tayside Police officer conceded yesterday that there has been a significant increase in the availability of heroin in Dundee over recent years.

Chief Superintendent Colin McCashey, divisional commander for the city, was commenting in the wake of a claim during a case at Dundee Sheriff Court that the city’s Hilltown area was “awash with heroin users”.

That prompted Dundee East MSP Shona Robison, Scotland’s Public Health Minister, to write to Tayside’s Chief Constable John Vine asking him what the force intends to do to protect the community.

Mr McCashey said last night, “There is absolutely no doubt that the availability of heroin is far greater in Dundee now than it was a number of years ago.

“The fact that its misuse is more widespread in the city than before should concern us all.

“Clearly heroin isn’t manufactured in Tayside. It comes to the UK from abroad, generally via the major cities, and that is why we work closely with other police forces and enforcement agencies to try and stem the flow of drugs into our area.

“But the amounts that we are seeing seized at border control are the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amounts being supplied to the UK.

“Heroin presents a significant problem in Dundee. Many of the people who come into the custody of Tayside Police do so because they have a drugs problem for which they commit crime to feed.”

The senior officer said the crimes linked to drug abuse in the city included prostitution, street crime, robbery and housebreaking.

“Because it gives rise to other crimes, heroin has the potential to affect every one of us.

“Drugs intelligence is assessed on a daily basis in Dundee and this can and does result in enforcement action being taken. This is not just against the drug user but also importantly against those who peddle this dreadful poison.

“By their very nature cases involving significant seizures of heroin attract widespread media publicity. However, on a day-to-day basis our officers are focusing on drugs-related crime and drug dealers at all levels with a view to removing them from our communities and bringing them to justice.”

Scottish government ministers are due to unveil a new drugs strategy soon, which will place extra emphasis on helping addicts to recover.

Ms Robison said the drugs issue was one the Government took seriously and was committed to tackling.

She said, “Sometimes an area can begin to have a problem. It’s a small minority of people who are involved and we have to protect the ordinary people in the community.

“I will be writing to the chief constable to find out what his plans are for Hilltown.”

The case which sparked the comments involved a 43-year-old woman who admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin at her then home in Powrie Place.

Police who watched the building saw 50 people visit the flat in five hours and emerging about a minute later.

The dealer’s solicitor said that the Hilltown was “awash” with drug users, and a torrent of them went to the flat seeking drugs.

Mr McCashey last night took the opportunity to appeal to the people of Dundee to help flush dealers out.

Information from the public helps to build a picture of where the existing and emerging problems are.

He stressed that although there were issues with drug dealing and drugs misuse in the Hilltown, they were not exclusive to the area.

Mr McCashey continued, “We are not complacent as this is our problem and it is ours for all of us to deal with.

“We want to hear from people if they are aware of any drugs activity in their area—that might be dealers, users or even if they have seen syringes, needles and other paraphernalia discarded in the street or common close.”

The relative affordability of heroin is often highlighted as a significant factor in its greater misuse, but its availability and the user’s absolute dependence on it that are the real threats, he said.

He added, “We recognise that addicts are victims of heroin too, but as the police we know the harm that they and their dealers do to our society. Our primary responsibility is to enforce the law to reduce the impact they have on law-abiding people.”

A survey of heroin users in Dundee, published earlier this year, found that most were taking the drug daily and spending an average of £18,000 a year to feed their habit.

Last week, Tayside’s deputy chief constable Kevin Mathieson admitted the force was losing its battle against drug misuse.

He told members of the Tayside Joint Police Board that “things are getting worse” with more deaths from overdoses, more people becoming addicts and cheap drugs being freely available.