Cocaine with a street value of ?175,000 has been recovered by drug squad officers in the Isle of Man in last three months.

The Island's Drug Trafficking Unit believes recent operations have had a considerable impact on the availability of the banned substance on the Island.

A series of intelligence led operations has resulted in the seizure of significant hauls of the Class A drug and several arrests have been made.

Home Affairs Minister Adrian Earnshaw believes the recent success will act as a deterrent.

He told Manx Radio:

"Police recently have made a big effort to seize cocaine and I think they have had a lot of sucess with that.

"I've got a figure here of ?175,000 of street value in the past three months - that's a sizeable quantity.

"This is imported into the Isle of Man and I think the success of their seizures probably will deter people bringing these drugs, which we don't want on the Isle of Man.

"Drugs are a menace to society, we don't want them here and I think this is very much a deterrent in achieving that."