Police call for harsher punishment for syabu-related offences

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 needs to be improved in line with current developments so that efforts by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to eliminate drug abuse can be carried out more effectively.

Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (JSJN) director Datuk Razarudin Husain said the improvements that needed to be done included reducing the weight of drugs that can be charged under Section 39B of the law and also to charge those involved in drug trafficking under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act (AMLA) 2001.

"Currently, under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act, the weight is 15 grammes for heroin or 50 grammes for methampetamine for offenders to be given the death penalty and life imprisonment. There is a need for the weight of methampetamine or syabu to be reduced to 15 grammes or lower." said Razarudin.

"This is because Methamphetamine or syabu is the most seized drug currently, compared to ketamine, cannabis and heroin... when the Dangerous Drugs Act was formulated, heroin was the drug that was most smuggled into the country. I believe by doing this we will be able to eliminate the drug traffickers, ” he added when speaking to Bernama here.

Razarudin said the proposal had been submitted by the police to the Home Ministry through the legal division.

He said during the first eight months of this year, the police had seized 18 tonnes of drugs, an increase of 80 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year, which was 10.5 tonnes.

"Most of the drugs seized were methampetamine which is popular among local drug users," he added.

Razarudin said that methamphetamine is also exported to other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Greece, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Korea.

He said the high price and demand for the drug in those countries made local syndicates take the opportunity to export the banned substance.

"For example, from information obtained, a kilogramme of methamphetamine that was bought by a local syndicate for RM30,000 from a syndicate from the Golden Triangle can be sold for up to 200,000 Australian Dollars (RM 607,712) in Australia," he added.

He said the close cooperation between the Malaysian police and foreign anti-drug agencies had managed to curb the activities of the smuggling syndicates to some extent.

Razarudin also said that he hoped that the number of JSJN personnel could be increased in line with the increase in seizures and cases involving drugs that were recorded every day.

"Currently, the number of personnel at JSJN is only about 4.7 percent of the total number of police personnel, and we have applied for an additional 2,000 members," he added. - Bernama