Police Chief: Drug Users and Dealers Are Detained, but Get Less Attention Than Drunk Drivers
Latvia's State Police chief Armands Ruks said on TV24 that police regularly detain drug dealers and publish information about it. He admitted a shortage of staff limits the work.
Armands Ruks, chief of Latvia's State Police, answered a viewer's question on the TV24 programme “Uz līnijas” (“On the Line”) about why the news often reports drivers detained for drunk driving, but far less often reports detentions of drug users. The viewer argued that there are many drug addicts but none seem to be detained. The programme was published on 7 November 2026.
Users and dealers: different liability
Ruks first distinguished drug use from drug trafficking and sales. He said responsibility for use depends on the specific situation and on whether the offence is a first or a repeated one. According to him, detention of a user is possible as far as the act is an administrative offence, while a repeat offence within a year leads to criminal liability.
Information about dealers
On dealers, the police chief stressed that police regularly detain people linked to the circulation of narcotic substances and publicly report on it. Data on detainees and seized quantities of drugs is published on the State Police website and social media, he said, and there is a lot of it for anyone following police activity.
Shortage of staff
He said work against drug trafficking is intense, but acknowledged the previously mentioned problem of staff shortages in the police. With more personnel, more could be achieved in this area. Ruks also noted that drugs are a worldwide problem, not only one for the European Union or Latvia.
In his view, the impression that drug users or dealers are not detained does not match everyday police work, although such information may be less noticeable in public than news about drunk drivers.
