Ketamine most commonly seized drug in Plymouth bars

630 drug items seized last year

Ketamine is the most commonly found drug confiscated in Plymouth bars, police have revealed.

A police report says that more than 600 drug items were confiscated by staff in licensed premises last year.

Testing drugs has enabled trends to be observed and police are picking up cocaine and ketamine, with ketamine being commonly found drug in the drugs safes of licensed premises, they said.

The annual report by licensing officers to Plymouth City Council’s licensing committee officers says the police have continued to support the hospitality trade with the seizing of drugs at their venues. 

In conjunction with Best Bar None and Plymouth Pubwatch police are safely removing drugs from premises, especially where it is not appropriate to have drug safes.

Police licensing has developed a tried and tested method in the collection of drugs along with sharing of information.

Last year 630 items were confiscated by Evening Night-time Economy (ENTE) staff.

This work fed into building  an intelligence picture around what type of drugs are circulating in the night-time economy.

The yearly round up states that police made 515 visits to licensed premises in Plymouth during 2025 with 110 related to incidents where further intervention was needed, a report has revealed.

Two premises were issued letters about “glassing” incidents which did not need to be escalated further and there had been a reduced number of these incidents during 2025.

Police said the standard of new premises licence applications –  there were 43 new applications last year and 63 transfers of licence – was high and “rarely need further visits” once open.

They said 2025 had seen a low number of cases brought before the licensing committee which demonstrated the “pro-active work” which the police and local authority licensing departments undertake in order to work with venues and licensees in creating a safer and more professional licensing and hospitality community.

Local authorities can insist that new applications include measures to mitigate the risk of street drinking thereby minimising the impact of related antisocial behaviour. 

Training had been delivered to venues around drugs awareness, anti-drink spiking and the Ask for Angela scheme which was “ever more important” due to the high turnover of staff in the evening and night-time economy venues.

The  anti drink spiking policy began in Plymouth in 2019 and was well established. The city follows the national trend of less than 4.5 per cent of positive samples.

The fact Devon and Cornwall Police could test reported victims’ urine immediately and reassure people they had not been spiked or targeted was a great success and reduce the fear of crime, said the police.

Regarding tackling violence against women and girls the report says there had been  increase in intelligence submissions from door staff and venue staff. This was partly due to a new app (SentrySIS) that was introduced this year.

Police had been able to intervene after suspicious vehicles were spotted or predatory behaviour witnessed. Under the operation Project Popeye they are trying to create a hostile environment  for perpetrators.

Devon and Cornwall Police in conjunction with Best Bar None attended the student freshers fayres and handed out information regarding staying safe on a night out. 

Other initiatives include the Lift Legend campaign which aims to encourage venues to promote free soft drinks to a designated driver and has seen a bigger take-up last year.

There has been a positive feedback from users and partners of the multi agency ‘safe bus’ which had prevented more than 80 per cent of people treated there for minor injuries and welfare issues from needing further medical help, taxi marshals help disperse people from the Barbican area, the new night bus ran from the city to Tavistock and Saltash, with nearly 3,000 passengers during 2025, and Plymouth Night Patrol had been set up within Plymouth University to provide medical first responder and welfare patrols on Wednesday, Friday and Satuhrday nights during term time, with a team of over 70 members.

The report talks about the strength of partnership working which had clearly demonstrated through the retaining of the prestigious Purple Flag award for the city and highlighted as best practice. 

In other licensing matters the number of noise complaints relating to licensed premises increased from 92 in 2024 to 130 in 2025. This rise was primarily attributable to the change from financial‑year to calendar‑year reporting, said the council.

A further contributory factor was a modest increase in complaints associated with a higher number of events held during the year, particularly at Central Park Event Space (20 complaints) and the Ruckfest event at Plymouth Albion (11 complaints)

The premises licence for Union Street Food and Wine was revoked after a review was submitted on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder. An appeal against this decision has since been lodged with Plymouth Magistrates’ Court, and an initial hearing to consider the appeal has been listed for March 12 2026. 

Currently, Plymouth City Council licenses one lap dancing club and one sex shop. During the forthcoming year the licensing team will review, consult and update the policy which controls sex establishments.

During 2025, Plymouth City Council received and processed 1,355 applications covering alcohol and entertainment , gambling, sex establishments, petroleum,  explosives,  animal welfare, charitable collections, scrap metal, caravan licensing and body and beauty art.