Dewan passes bill allowing arrests of suspected smugglers sans warrants

KUALA LUMPUR – Parliament today approved amendments to a law that will allow enforcement officers to arrest, without warrants, individuals suspected of smuggling, profiteering from, or selling controlled items above the government-stipulated price.

The amendments to the Control of Supplies Act 1961 will allow enforcement personnel such as police and customs officers ranked no lower than inspectors to arrest anyone they reasonably believe to have committed or is attempting to commit an offence.

Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Rosol Wahid, who tabled the amendments, assured the lower House that enforcement officers are required to have gathered sufficient evidence before acting despite not having warrants.

“We have had several cases where culprits, or rather their lawyers, managed to identify several loopholes in the law which allowed the cases against them to be dropped,” Rosol said.

“But I can assure that every time an arrest is made (after the amendments), it is based on investigations and not done impulsively.”

Under the amended law, authorities will be required to open and examine 1% or no less than five samples of the seized items to establish reasonable cause for a seizure.

In the event testing of samples is required, authorities now only need to test no more than 5% of the volume or weight of the seized items, Rosol said.

He added that during a trial, the court shall presume that seized articles within unopened packages contain the same items as those opened for purposes of testing and examination.

The amendments will also allow the government to sell items seized in the course of investigations, although the government can only access the proceeds from the sale once the case has been disposed of by the court.

However, the proceeds will be given to the accused if they are acquitted by the court, while compensation for losses caused by the seizure of goods will be granted in the event it is established that it was done without reasonable cause. – The Vibes, March 21, 2022