THE number of reported drug offences in Maribyrnong is rising, but Footscray police claim the higher figure is due to their "working harder" to expose more offenders.
The latest Footscray police statistics reveal a 35.8per cent rise in drug offences recorded in the past year - one of the highest increases in Victoria.
Maribyrnong was the fifth-worst in the state for drug crime in the past year, with 596 offences recorded.
Inspector Ian Geddes, of Footscray police, said the reason for the increase was police apprehending and charging more offenders.
"The only drug crime that is reported is for someone we have arrested. Those figures are generated by us."
Inspector Geddes said police had cracked down on the drug problem in Maribyrnong in the past year by increasing police numbers in streets and covert investigations.
He said the rise in reported offences did not mean the volume of drugs or number of offenders in the area were rising.
"The drug volumes are around the same. [But] we keep moving the people, we are disrupting the trade."
Inspector Geddes said reducing drug trafficking had a flow-on effect in reducing related crime such as burglary and theft.
Residential burglaries in Maribyrnong dropped 5.8per cent and thefts from vehicles dropped 11.8per cent in the past year, according to Victoria Police.
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