Wednesday April 18, 2007
Trafficking charge for those with ketamine and Eramin 5
By LOURDES CHARLES
KUALA LUMPUR: Anyone caught with ketamine, a popular date-rape drug, and Nimetazepam, better known as Eramin 5, will now be charged with trafficking under Section 39b of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
The amount does not matter as long as police can demonstrate that a transaction – a selling and a buying – had occurred.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said he and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan were concerned over the glaring increase in the possession and trafficking of the drugs.
“I have ordered the police and the prosecution to charge those arrested with trafficking instead of just possession of the drugs concerned.
“We view the matter with great concern as the amount of the drugs seized indicate that they are no longer for self- consumption but more for trafficking,” he said.
Ketamine is a fast acting anaesthetic used primarily in veterinary surgery. It has become popular at dance parties or “raves” and also as a date-rape drug as it makes the user hallucinate and feel as though the mind is separated from the body.
Nimetazepam has a sedative effect and helps calm feelings of anxiety but is addictive.
“I have just received the statistics from the police for the year 2003 up to February 2007 and must admit that the figures are alarming,” Gani told The Star.
He said that in 2003, there were 47 cases related to ketamine with seizures amounting to 20kg.
The figure increased in 2004, with 121 cases and the seizure of 105kg of ketamine. The following year, the number of arrests rocketed to 167 with police seizing 159kg of the drug.
The increase in the number of cases in 2006 was even more prominent with 380 reported cases and the seizure of 374kg of ketamine.
From January to February this year, records show that there were 91 reported cases with seizures amounting to 71kg.
Gani said the abuse of Eramin 5 was rampant in 2005 with 489,841 pills seized from the 489 cases reported.
He said although the number of cases last year increased to 651, the number of seizures dropped as the authorities seized only 66,020 pills.
For January and February this year, the number of cases was 98 while the number of pills seized was 18,458.
Musa said he was glad the A-G had decided to charge these people with trafficking as the police had been pushing for it for quite sometime.
“We need such deterrent measures as, otherwise, people will continue doing this without fear,” he added.
Morphine, heroin, opium and ganja are among those classified as dangerous drugs under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
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