Bandar Seri Begawan – The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in its tireless vigilance has once again apprehended several individuals suspected of consuming and distributing illegal drugs openly in public.
According to a press release from NCB, investigations into these activities have warranted the arrests of 10 men between the ages of 18 and 38, including two men who had been reported to have blatantly sold these drugs to passers by at a jetty and the back streets of Kg Saba Darat in the capital.
Some 70 NCB officers were involved in the drug bust last Thursday where they succeeded in seizing several packets of illegal drugs.
The operation is part of a series that NCB will be conducting in known drug hotspots in their commitment to clean up the streets of illegal drugs.
According to Section 39(a), Paragraph 27 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, any person found guilty for possession of controlled drugs will face a minimum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane, and a maximum sentence of 30 years with 15 strokes of the cane.
But possession of controlled drugs exceeding 500 grammes carries the death penalty in Brunei.
Meanwhile, suspects found guilty of consuming controlled drugs will be charged under Section 6(b), Paragraph 27 of the Misuse of Drugs Act and will face a minimum of three years and a maximum of 10 years or imposed with a $20,000 fine or both.
Source: Borneo Bulletin www.BruDirect.com March 2009