Drug seizures have plummeted in the past four years sparking fears that Bermuda is losing the battle against illegal narcotics.

Police statistics show 636 seizures were made in 2008 compared to 946 in 2004, while arrests also fell significantly in the same period years from 561 to 336.

Sandy Butterfield, head of drug counselling service Focus, said drug importers were probably getting more creative because the amount of drugs on Bermuda's streets had not diminished.

She told The Royal Gazette: "Drugs only come by water and air. I don't like to tell people they are not doing their jobs but if they find seizures are down they have to look at what they are not doing because it doesn't make sense.

"People are openly using and buying and selling it on the streets. They are not even sneaky anymore, they just do it. You can see people dealing drugs at any time."

The area from her office in Union Street, to the People's Pharmacy in Victoria Street, was awash with drug use, said Mrs. Butterfield who added that heroin is still the hard drug of choice.

"I never see the Police. I know they communicate on the upper levels but it would be really nice if they came down to some of the treatment areas and said 'How can we help, what's going on, what do you see?'."

The figures, released by Police this week, show seizures on cruise ships plummeting from 157 in 2004 to just 13 in 2008 while 2007 registered just ten cruise seizures.

Confiscations at the airport fell from 66 in 2004 to 38 four years later and interceptions at the cargo shed fell from 20 to just two in the same period while post office busts fell by two thirds.

Street seizures with arrests fell from 385 to 263 while there was just one bust at Hamilton docks last year. Use of couriers was the one area to show a significant rise from nine seizures in 2004 to 103 in 2007, although that fell to 74 last year.

United Bermuda Party Public Safety spokesman Michael Dunkley said the numbers were alarming.

He added: "All the information points to there being more drugs in the community, not less.

"You would think they would be able to hold their own or do a better job with interdiction and seizures but that certainly hasn't been the case over the past couple of years."

The plummeting seizures from cruise ships couldn't all be attributed to a decline in cruise arrivals said Mr. Dunkley.

"It leads me to think things are not being done in a proper way there. We are losing ground. It's a continual eroding of our lifestyle."

Mr. Dunkley wondered whether changes in interdiction procedure on cruise ships had been damaging although he took some heart from the increase in couriers being caught.

The figures, coupled with depressing stats on violent crime and gun offences, showed how law and order was on the wane despite the ten percent increase in Police spending in last year's Budget, said Mr. Dunkley.

"We are not hearing anything concrete from the Governor, the Government or Police, on what they are doing to turn it around. We have to stop making excuses and do something.

"Clearly there is no lack of funding for Police."

Both the Police and Governor declined to comment yesterday.