As Oxley police ramp up roadside “lick the stick” testing, independent figures released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) show where drivers are being caught in NSW.

And, regional NSW takes much of the cake.

The Richmond-Tweed area had the highest rate of detections, followed by Wagga Wagga, Orange and Newcastle, as well as Shoalhaven and Tamworth.

But the high numbers haven’t surprised Tamworth’s top cop who says it just illustrates the extent of drugs on the street.

“It just shows the high level of drugs present in the community,” Oxley Acting Superintendent Jeff Budd told The Leader yesterday.

“Despite the amount of resources police throw at it, it continues to be a problem.”

In 2015, the Tamworth Regional Council area saw more than 147 people charged with driving with an illicit drug present in their system, but the technology used to detect the illegal activity wasn’t permanently stationed in Tamworth until September, last year.

“The Oxley command has a high success rate in drug detection and supplies, and this is another way of detecting illegal activity,” Acting Superintendent Budd said.

Last week, The Leader revealed one in three drivers stopped by police in Tamworth during a recent two-day blitz had returned a positive reading for methylamphetamine or cannabis.

Sixty-two drivers were stopped and each of the 20 who tested positive had been slapped with 24-hour driving bans and will now wait to see the outcome of forensic tests to see if they will face criminal charges.

A BOCSAR spokesperson said the detection rate is largely based on targeted police operations, and on average across the state between January and July, 2015, one in every 13 tests was returning a positive indication.

In NSW, it is illegal to drive any vehicle with illicit drugs in your system, whether it’s in a driver’s oral fluid, urine or blood.

If a driver is visibly affected by illicit drugs they could be subject to a blood test, and depending on the reading, face a charge of driving under the influence.

According to the BOCSAR figures, across the New England region, Armidale had 47 people charged with drug driving, Uralla two, Glen Innes six and Inverell and Tenterfield had eight apiece.

The Moree Plains boasted 37 detections, Narrabri closely followed on 28, while the Liverpool Plains area had 11, Gunnedah seven and Gwydir two.

Guyra and Walcha had no detections last year.