BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Brunei's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) made 641 arrests for offenses relating to the Misuse of Drugs Act in the year of 2016, an official said Thursday, quoting the latest NCB statistics.
This was an increase of only three people compared to the 2015 figures, the official told Xinhua.
"The drug situation remained under control in Brunei so far", the official who asked not to be named said. "However, Brunei continues to stay alert to drug offenses."
Of the arrested, 87 percent were men, with the remaining 13 percent being women. In 2015, men made up 83.7 percent of the tally, and women, 16.3 percent.
The breakdown for the 2016 arrests showed that the number of arrests for persons aged 31 and above stood at 355, aged 21-30 (237), aged 16-20 (47) and aged below 15 (two).
The majority were Brunei citizens (546 people), while 57 were foreign nationals; and 38 permanent residents. All these arrests were made during inland and seaborne operations conducted by the NCB in Brunei.
"Brunei has not detected any drug production, diversion of chemical precursors or illicit crop cultivation so far", the official added.
