The Crime Statistics Agency says the number of drug dealing and trafficking offences in the Southern Grampians shire jumped from eight to 41 in the year to December 2018.

Southern Grampians police Acting Inspector Di Thomson said the statistics were generated by police following a crackdown on drug-related offending.

"We have a highly visual police presence on the street but we also run a divisional tasking team that is comprised of members from Portland and Hamilton," she said.

"That is a covert team who combine their resources, work irregular hours and are not in uniform. So while you might see the van doing normal policing, there is a lot we are doing on top of that."

Acting Inspector Thomson said work included targeting repeat offenders and uncovering creative means of drug creation.

"In regional Victoria, where there is a lot of land space, there is scope for people to cultivate crops such as cannabis. People create labs inside their home or rental properties and we've had camper vans used as methylamphetamine labs," she said.

"They're very creative and we have to be just as creative. We're aware of all this innovation about how to manufacture and grow drugs, but we, as police, have educated methods of detection."

Across the region, drug-related offences jumped 17 per cent from the year before, while incidents involving weapons rose by 23 per cent.

Warrnambool police Inspector Paul Marshall said weapons were often seized from homes during drug raids.

"We'll go into an offender's home on a drug warrant for trafficking and we'll find pen pistols, knives and firearms," he said.

"So out of one raid or job we could get a few charges, such as cultivating a narcotic plant, trafficking ecstasy or methylamphetamine, and possession."

Inspector Marshall said the Warrnambool division was working closely with South Australia, Ballarat, Geelong and Horsham police to discover how drugs were getting into the area.

Meanwhile, theft and deception offences rose 30 per cent in Warrnambool and the number of burglaries dropped by about 20 per cent.

Inspector Marshall said police were case-managing known offenders, resulting in a decrease in residential and commercial burglaries.

"We are targeting the known recidivist offenders, and that decrease in burglaries is something we are really proud of," he said.

"In regards to thefts, we are running proactive programs with our retail association. CCTV systems are becoming cheaper now days and victims can detect a lot of the offending so that we can identify the perpetrator and process the offending.

"And deception offences are a large flow on effect from those thefts, particularly from homes, handbags and motor vehicles.

"We are seeing more people stealing credit cards and using them at McDonald's, bottle shops and supermarkets. Anything under $100 can be purchased with tap-and-go, making it easier for those deception offences to spike."

Inspector Marshall said he was pleased with the recent statistics but there was still a long way to go.

"We are really focusing on our high-harm, high-impact offending and that is evident in that decrease in burglaries. We know that a residential house being broken into is absolutely unacceptable," he said.

"I think the data is really good. We've still got a lot of work to do until we are completely happy but we are using our analytical science to make sure we target the right recidivist offenders and hold them to account."

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