and wales represent a 3.8% increase on the previous year. the trade in illegal drugs has increasingly been blamed for rising levels of violence in towns and cities across britain. in the seaside community of rhyl in north wales, research by bbc news shows that violent crime increased for four years before the pandemic, with drug gangs playing a significant part, as our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. they caught three people injecting there the other day. siren weekend patrol in the most violent neighbourhood in wales. he said he was going to punch me! i did not step forward! no, we re not getting anywhere now! as covid restrictions ease, there s fear here, as elsewhere, that serious crime will increase. violent crime for a long time in rhyl was linked to the night time economy. assaults and beatings and stabbings, a consequence of drinking too much,