THE statistics on drug cases showed an increase of 30.6%, recording 141,289 cases last year compared to 108,220 in 2021 with drug supply offences increasing by 18%, possession (35.1%) and positive urine tests (31.2%), Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said.

“The number of arrests increased by 26.3% to 163,697 in 2022 as reported by Bukit Aman,” he said in a statement today.

The statistics are based on the “Malaysian Crime Statistics 2023” report published on the DOSM website.

The report said positive urine cases recorded the highest number at 69,270 last year compared to 52,816 the previous year, followed by possession (52,398 compared to 38,775 in 2021) and supply (19,621 compared to 16,629 in 2021).

Besides drug statistics, the report also contains other statistics for 2021 to 2022.

Among crimes that also show an increase is sexual crime and according to Uzir, it recorded an increase of 2.9% with 3,303 cases in 2022 compared to 3,209 the year before.

“However, taboo sex, harassment and assault, showed a decrease of 10.4%, 5.7% and 0.5% respectively. Rape recorded the highest increase in 2022 at 9.6%,” it said.

“Index and commercial crimes decreased by 4.1% and 3% in 2022. Index crimes including violent and property crimes showed a decrease of 10% and 2.4% in 2022.

“Commercial crimes in 2022 reported by Bukit Aman showed a drop except for counterfeiting and cyber crimes,” he said, adding fraud recorded the highest number at 27,247 followed by breach of trust (911) and 832 offences under the Moneylenders Act 1951.

As for corruption, Uzir said the number of investigation papers opened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission recorded a decrease of 1% to 820 cases in 2022 from 828. – Bernama, November 2, 2023.