POLICE have played down Llanelli's meow meow problem — saying it needs to be put "in context".
Speaking at a Pact meeting at Llanelli Town Hall, Sergeant Justin Evans said the figures relating to the town's drug problem needed to be put in perspective.
But he admitted Llanelli did have an issue with the drug, describing it as the "most addictive" officers had come across in quite some time.
"To have a bigger problem than Cardiff city centre, that's never going to happen," he said. "We can take this in the context. What happened is the police were very good at catching and detecting new drug dealers and it showed high figures on a population basis.
"We're not going to sit here and say there isn't a meow problem in Llanelli — there is. It's a drug they can easily get hold of and we're just actively targeting it and working with the partner agencies to ride out the trend and cut it down as much as we can.
"It's the most addictive thing that we've come across for a long, long time."
PCSO Dan Brown added that the drug was "similar to heroin but a lot cheaper".
Councillor Bill Thomas said the way to tackle the drug was not through addicts but through the dealers.
"You look at some of these addicts as victims," he said.
"Once they get on to this stuff it's addictive."
And Councillor John Jenkins called for tougher sentencing for dealers.
But Sergeant Evans said police had no say once a case got to court.
"It's a problem," he said.
"We've just got to do what we can by actively targeting all the offenders."
The comments come just weeks after two convicted meow meow dealers avoided jail — sparking outrage among many Llanelli residents.
Earlier this month, Robert Andrew Hughes, 25, of New Dock Road, admitted possessing meow meow with intent to supply after being found with 2.17 grams of the danger drug.
And in November, Thomas Wyn Bowen, 22, of Maes yr Haf, appeared at Swansea Crown Court after police found mephedrone worth thousands of pounds hidden in his home.
Officers found two plastic bags containing drugs and more than £1,000 in cash during a raid.
Prosecutors told the court the 289g of the substance would have a street value of between £2,160 and £5,235.
