IPOH, Feb 2 ― Perak will be the first state in the country to apply Section 41(B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act for no bail to be allowed on repeat offenders for drug addiction and traffickers if its proposal to do so is allowed by the Attorney-General’s Chamber.

Perak Narcotic Criminal Investigation Department head ACP V. R. Ravi Chandran said a proposal to that effect was sent to the Attorney-General’s Chamber in December last year.

"The Attorney-General’s Chamber has asked us (police) to discuss implementation of the section with the Perak Prosecution Unit chief.

"If the proposal is accepted, we will apply the provision in the section this year,” he told a media conference at the Perak police contingent headquarters here today.

Ravi Chandran said there was a need to implement the provision in the law due to the increase of 12.2 per cent, or 2,220 people, who were arrested for various drug-related offences last year.

They included 539 people who were arrested under Section 39B of the law which provides the mandatory death sentence upon conviction, he added.

He said 139 people were arrested under the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985 where most of them were the master-mind or financier of drug syndicates.

The number of people arrested for drug possession also increased by 13.2 per cent last year, involving 4,622 people, from 4,083 people in 2015.

He said a total of 13,458 people were arrested for drug-related offences in the state last year, with drugs, worth RM8.8 million, seized and property worth RM8.4 million, sealed. ― Bernama