A senior Police officer told a drugs meeting that he knew of parents and grandparents living lavish lifestyles thanks to drug-dealing relatives but who ignored where the money came from.

Acting Chief Inspector Robert Cardwell also told a Department of National Drug Control public meeting that Police are to step up their presence in notorious drug dealing areas to make it difficult for dealers to do business.

And the meeting also heard from a Customs officer that the department did not have the manpower to always inspect every container coming into Bermuda and who revealed the department was exploring installing body scanning machines at the L.F. Wade International Airport.

The DNDC launched its drugs master plan a year ago and held Wednesday's meeting to update the public and the organisations involved in the programme of its progress and achievements.

Acting Chf. Insp. Cardwell said he knew of cases where parents and grandparents were living lavish lifestyles as a result of a drug-dealing relative, but chose to "turn a blind eye".

"They'd sooner turn a blind eye to the obvious than to stop it in its tracks, report it, or distance themselves from it or even listen to their conscience that they are living a lie. Everyone knows that knows them, knows that the cash, assets and lifestyle they are living is far beyond their legitimate means," he said.

However he warned that such lifestyles could soon disappear under the new Proceeds of Crime Act which gives Police authority to seize items ranging from boats to cars and even homes bought through profits from drug dealing.

"This new legislation ensures that once penalties have been levied in the criminal courts after a conviction for a drug crime, that one is not able to enjoy any benefits they may have acquired along the way. This includes forfeiture of cash, BMW, Rolex watches, blings, rings, flat screen TVs and even possibly the pad." he added.

However he stressed that residents must also do their part in spreading the message that all drugs, including cannabis, are detrimental not only to those who use them, but the entire community.

"The problem-oriented Police initiative will work hand in hand with the community Policing strategy and will be the focus of our community action teams.

"These teams are supported by the Police Support Unit. The initiatives identified will involve every single resident of Bermuda. In short, if you know something tell us, we can work together to help you clean up your neighbourhood."

Most Bermudians recognise that drugs play a role in crimes ranging from burglary to assault, said Acting Chf. Insp. Cardwell. He added that some criminals stole because of their addictions and pointed out those crimes that centred around disputes between drug dealers over theft of cash or drug stashes.

During his update, he also touched on talks about decriminalising cannabis: "In some sectors of the community cannabis is seen as a socially accepted drug, or the better of many evils. Have we not recognised that there are already too many legal evils? We must stop sending mixed messages. The message must continue to be 'just say no to drugs'."

He said it was difficult to know the percentage of drugs seized as a total of the amount of drugs available but in the US it was estimated the figure was 10 percent.

William Pearman, representing HM Customs, said in response: "If you take that 10 percent figure of what we seize, if that's true then God help us all".

A recent case was Bermudian Norman O'Donnell Rayner who was imprisoned for seven years in the US after he was caught with $40 million worth of cannabis on a boat just off of the Bahamas in January. Police said the drug was destined for the Island's streets.

It was described by Police as the "largest seizure in recent history", with the cannabis, from Jamaica, weighing around a ton.

Cannabis, Mr. Pearman added, is still the drug of choice and estimated it was now four or five times as potent than 20 years ago.

Mr. Pearman said Customs is looking into installing body scanning machines at the airport and is hoping to implement x-ray machines at the Hamilton docks to screen containers. According to the Customs official, the agency can sometimes get anywhere between 400 and 500 containers a week, and doesn't have the manpower to search each one.

He added that the reality of the matter was that "as long as there is a demand, you're not going to stop the drugs from coming in".