Prices low as supply rockets

Scotland yard admits it is struggling to contain the explosion in crack cocaine.

So much is on the capital's streets that the price has dropped to an all-time low and the number of offences involving the supply of crack has risen 151 per cent in the past five years.

There are an estimated 45,000 crack addicts in the capital. Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates, head of the Metropolitan Police Drugs Strategic Committee, said: "We know we seize only a very small proportion of the total." Since April, police and customs officers have seized 14 kg - 1,175,000 rocks - of crack cocaine, but they estimate that is only seven to 10 per cent of the market.

Since 1994 the cost of a gramme has fallen from ?110 to ?99, allowing for inflation, and the number of offences for possession has risen by 69 per cent. More than half take place in London and there are crack houses in every London borough.