A 26-year-old man has been arrested, questioned and released under investigation on suspicion of drug driving after being stopped by Police near Newport at the weekend.
Officers pulled over a white Range Rover Evoque on Blackwater Road at 00:29 on Saturday morning after their attention was drawn to the vehicle.
It became clear to Police that something wasn’t quite right so a roadside drugs wipe was requested.
The drugs wipe soon revealed a positive indication for illicit drugs, resulting in the driver being arrested and taken into custody at Newport Police Station.
Bloods were taken and have been sent off for analysis. In the meantime, the 26-year-old has been released under investigation.
Just 19 hours later, Police were called to Blackwater again when several cars were involved in a road traffic collision. This also led to another drug driver being arrested, as previously reported by Island Echo.




















































































Most likely 1 in 10 drivers on the island are under the influence of drink or drugs at any one time. Its absolutely rife.
Given the number of arrests, you’d think people would learn…
There is no detergent.
That explains why he couldn’t make a clean getaway…
You for real! Bout 4 in 10 are mate! It’s the norm these days
More than that. Any dog walker in Ryde will tell you more than one car will pass them stinking of weed in the course of a short walk around the block before bed.
The Tories cut our police force by half.
bloody dog walkers haha
One can only assume that you have personal knowledge.
I totally agree with you, this is why the island have so many crashes…..The police need to do random checks for at least a year to remove this vermin off the roads….
But it all comes back to one thing not enough police over here.
Most definitely not Mike. That is just your own made up statistic. People love making stuff up on here just to get thumbs ups. Actual statistics indicate that 3% of people regularly drive under the influence of drink/drugs, which is high but but not as silly as your made-up proportion.
Then how come pretty much every accident the police attend over here the person driving is over the alcohol or drug limit. If it was really only 3 percent that wouldn’t be the case would it..
There is zero logic in your comment. You say “pretty much” but again you are just making it up. Maybe do some research and get actual statistics first. There are plenty of accidents on the roads but media are more likely to make a fuss of those linked to offences like drink/drug driving.This reporting bias is skewing your perception. About 5% of driving related accidents are caused by drink and drug use.
If you believe Government Statistics, then your very foolish and easily led….They say our population is around 65 million but I think the reality is more likely to be 80 million….
just over 140 thousand live here on Island.., most drugged and or drunk.. and own a dog !! One would think one has to have a dog to live here… the beach smells of dog poo.. the streets smell of urine…
Interesting that you are proven right in your comments by the fact that you got so few thumbs-up for stating a fact, King N. Well done.
We need a law to allow Police to conduct routine drug and alcohol testing for drivers, the odds of being caught are currently weighted heavily in favour of criminals never being caught.
innocent victims and their families are not adequately served by current legislation, also the penalties for those convicted need to be far more onerous, much larger fines, driving band for a long time and mandatory custodial sentences.
The trouble is they only seem to get caught when they crash or when the police happen to smell alcohol or cannabis on them.
Yes, no doubt it is rife. Problem is that years of the under resourcing of traffic police and decommissioning of supporting surveillance such as fixed speed cameras on the Island have encouraged drink/drug drivers that it’s unlikely they’ll get caught unless involved in an RTA or a routine stop. It’s low risk for them.
more like 8 out of 10…
Do more people on the Island use drugs because there is so little for younger people to do?
Was nothing to do when I was young but We never took drugs
In an ‘ideal world’ we should have sniffer dogs at each entry point to the island……. But unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world!
It’s ridiculous how many of these muppets think it’s acceptable to drug drive. They don’t deserve a licence to allow them on public roads. They are all a liability IMO.
Not sure there’s enough sniffer dogs for every car ferry, catamaran, hovercraft, boat marina and beach on the island. Plus how would that stop the home grown drugs?
I feel the island needs more unmarked police cars and random police stops. I certainly would not mind be late every so often because the police pulled me over for a drink\drug test.
I would mind. You give police powers like that and before you know it, we are living in a police state with no freedom.
While I can see what you are saying, police state is a bit of a stretch. Police with too few powers can only turn up at the car wrecks and fatalities, with no preventative remit
Absolutely. Just look at some of the dreadful overreach of some police during the Covid hysteria. I remember then seeing one tubby copper having a go at a lady having a paddle at the beach. You’d think she was committing a major crime. It was beyond cringeworthy to see.
You seem to think that “they” are coming over from the mainland to drug/drink drive around the island. The resident population are causing these accidents. Go back through the Court pages and you will see that the drug/drink drivers have local addresses.
I was referring to drugs coming across the Solent. Sniffer dogs sniff out drugs or money or guns……..some people over here grow some weed, I’m talking about the Cocaine or whatever ‘poison’ these imbeciles take to give them a buzz.
If you get behind a wheel high on anything you’re basically ok with potential killing someone because of your selfishness and I consider you in the same group of scum as pedos.
Wtf this seem the norm
definitely need more continuous random stops or it’s going to be you or me being killed or seriously injured by one of these cretins .
and when the sh1t hits the fan and their insurance becomes invalid it ain’t going to be good
Sometimes I have to drive because I am too high to walk.Do not want to risk falling over or tripping up injuring myself in the process.
You fools with statistics, one cannot measure on the whole for many drive home after a couple and just never got caught or crashed, they are only useful if everyone’s been pulled over and x of us fail testing and y pass. You cannot say in any case how many people are driving under the influence as it wouldnt be a fair and accurate reading of how many people ACTUALLY DUI.
Given the way Range Rover drivers drive, park etc would think 75% are drugged up or drug dealers now days. Range Rover is showing status like BMW, sensible people wouldn’t have one due to maintenance and running costs.
What if you have terrible seizures and cannabis is the only way you can lead a normal life… not everyone’s a f****** druggie some people want to lead a normal life
Obviously it’s selling the above that can afford a 26 year old money to afford that kind of car???
Attention was drawn to the vehicle….
A BIG BAG OF DRUGS in the boot.
You have to be high tho to drive a Range Rover ha seriously tho 26yr old driving Range Rover hmmm I think maybe drug dealer comes to mind ?
Or a car dealer
The only way to deal with dink/ drug drivers is to give give heavier fines,licenses withdrawn with a retest required after a minimum 1 year off the road. Reoffenders should be given jail time. For Christ’s sake get tough with these people.
If this is who I think it is I’m going to laugh so hard.