RENFREWSHIRE has been hit by 28 drug deaths in just nine months. 

The startling figure could rise to 35 as police wait for confirmation from seven toxicology results.

The data – which will be presented at Tuesday’s Police and Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Sub-Committee – covered April 1 to December 31 of last year. 

Etizolam – a narcotic dubbed the “blue plague” – was highlighted as a regular feature in the majority of drug related deaths. 

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It is typically exploited for sedation, euphoria and to reduce anxiety.

A total of 87 detections for drugs supply, production and cultivation offences were recorded during the period – a rise from 69 in the previous year.

Cannabis, cocaine and heroin featured most prominently in drug supply offences, being involved in 37, 36 and 24 per cent of offences respectively. 

Last year a top cop said the drug problem in Renfrewshire was down to “decades of criminal families” exploiting the market. 

Speaking at a scrutiny sub-committee at the end of October, Chief Superintendent Gordon Crossan said: “The people who cause misery stay in big houses with fancy cars and pedal poison on the back of others.”

At the same meeting, Chief Inspector Simon Wright emphasised the need for officers to get to the bottom of why drug-related deaths are happening. 

He said: “We have to grasp an understanding of why we are seeing greater numbers of people dying. 

“While drugs have been about for a while, we are starting to see the impact of drugs mixed with others.”

Last December, kingpins of a serious and organised crime group were sentenced to five years and five and a half years in custody. 

Meanwhile their associates were landed with sentences of five and a half years and three years respectively. 

The group had been found guilty of producing 1,676,094 million Etizolam tablets – worth £1.67 million – within a garage in Paisley using a pill press machine. 

Police figures also confirmed that as of January 7, 61 people linked to serious and organised crimes have been arrested.

READ MORE: Police to keep tabs on men who ran Scotland's biggest 'Breaking Bad' drugs factory

Additionally, more than £800,000 has been seized under Proceeds of Crime Act legislation.

Read all the latest from Renfrewshire and beyond