Subj:  UK: Drug offenders face DNA tests in crime crackdown



Date: Wednesday, 9 September 1998



Source:    The Irish Independent





Drug offenders face DNA tests in crime crackdown

By Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent 



DNA SAMPLES are to be taken from all convicted drug

dealers and users in one of Britain's largest police force

areas. 



In what is believed to be the first mass-testing of drug

offenders, an estimated 1,500 profiles are expected to be

added to the national DNA database during the next three

months. The profiles will be checked against DNA samples

taken from the scene of unsolved crimes to see if there is a

link. 



If the pilot programme, which begins in the West Midlands

in October, proves successful it is expected to be adopted

by other police forces. 



The initiative follows nationwide research earlier this year

which found that more than 60 per cent of criminal

suspects who agreed to be tested for illegal drugs proved

positive. 



Home Office figures suggest that a third of property crimes

are carried out by drug users needing to fund their habit -

an annual total of about UKP2.5bn. A typical heroin or crack

cocaine addict is likely to steal property worth between

UKP10,000 and UKP20,000 a year. 



Research carried out by West Midlands Police, during a

month in Solihull, revealed that half of 108 people arrested

were regular heroin users. Between them they had

accumulated property from thefts and burglaries worth

UKP11m. 



From next month anyone who is charged or cautioned in the

West Midlands for possessing, dealing or transporting

drugs will be added to the national database. Until now

forces have tended to use DNA sampling for violent

crimes, sexual offences and burglary. Tests are not

routinely carried out for drug offences, partly because of

the expense. 



Detective Inspector Richard Leary, West Midlands'

scientific development officer, said: "After the trial is

launched, anybody who is financing a drug habit or a drugs

network through crime is liable to be linked, not only with a

particular drugs crime, but also with other crimes used to

finance their lifestyle."