The Police Response Plan for Drug Use and Retail Trafficking in Leisure Areas and Premises, which is managed and coordinated by the Government Delegation in La Rioja together with the State Security Forces and Bodies (FCSE), concluded last year with 32 detainees and the deactivation of 5 points of sale.
In addition, the Plan resulted in 621 complaints of possession or use of drugs and 610 seizures.
In addition, as a result of the intense surveillance work carried out by the Civil Guard and the National Police, 152 establishments were inspected and 12 owners were arrested. It is important to note that the FCSE held 160 meetings throughout 2022 with representatives and associations of neighbors, among others, as a preventive work.
Analysis of seized drugs
As for the drugs seized in La Rioja during the development of the Plan, the main seizures of 2022 were, fundamentally, marijuana, followed by hashish, heroin and speed.
As in previous years, marijuana continues to be the most common apprehension. Significant is the strong entry of the seized heroin, reaching the third place above the speed and cocaine, which remain among the most consumed drugs.
Plan Development
The objective of the Plan, which is valid for 17 years, is to reduce the risk posed by the threat of retail traffic and illicit drug use among young people in the places of greatest citizen assistance to enjoy their leisure time.
During 2022, an integral action has been carried out with a double intervention in the leisure environment in La Rioja: on the one hand, preventive work, checking in leisure centers that meet the conditions of capacity, licenses, schedules and the application of security measures related to emergency exits or the existence of updated extinguishers, among others; on the other hand, specific control of drugs has been carried out during leisure moments, in which National Police and Civil Guard check consumption and retail traffic.
The FCSE works permanently throughout the year in La Rioja to combat drug consumption and trafficking, although the Plan foresees four phases of intensification that usually coincide with Carnavales, Easter, summer and Christmas, periods, all of them, with greater concentration of people and events.