Despite the need to conduct research on interventions against drug trafficking, there is a shortage of knowledge in this area. A deficiency of research makes it more difficult for researchers to draw on established methods or findings from which to develop further theory or more extensive study. The nature of drug intelligence means that it cannot be widely disseminated, corroborated, or debated in normal academic and research forums. The strategy for tackling drug misuse contains a framework based on four elements: young people, communities, treatment, and availability. Supply side activity is a crucial part of the overall strategy and complements efforts to reduce demand through other means such as education, treatment, and harm minimization. A key principle in the British Government’s 10 year anti-drugs strategy is the need for drug policy and practice to be evidence based. One of the reasons for a lack of evidence is due to the illicit and elusive context in which drug activity takes place. Attempts to describe drug markets have been growing in recent years. Particular aspects of drug markets have been targeted for further research based on potential insight the research might offer enforcement agencies. This includes work on the middle level of the drug market. The middle level has been targeted by enforcement agencies as being particularly difficult to regulate. The Home Office recognizes the importance of nurturing the development of a knowledge base in this field, and of experts within it. There is a need for thorough understanding of how the drug market supply chain works from export to import to middle market to street level dealers and then to users, and whether this is a coherent model to describe drug supply and trafficking. There is a need for awareness of the connections between these levels of the market. A more developed understanding is needed of the connection between drug supply and serious and organized crime groups. Further work is needed into the use of Internet technology in drug trafficking. There is a need for increasing the potential for successful intervention and detection for all of these issues. 21 references