AL greenlights new organic CCAC law, first reading into ‘new drugs’ list

The Legislative Assembly (AL) has unanimously passed the new organic law of the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) in its first reading.

The law incorporates new provisions related to the fight against economic and financial crimes, especially money laundering-related crimes.

The new law aims to widen the commission’s scope, giving it the power as a comprehensive body to address broad cases that concern government institutions and departments as well as the private sector.

More than addressing any flaws in the commission’s work, lawmakers wanted to know how the new provisions would confer the entity enough power to compel government entities to change their procedures, after the CCAC or audit reports alerted them to procedural flaws.

The Commissioner Against Corruption, Chan Tsz King, responded that it was possible to have a follow-up mechanism to ensure that recommendations and guidelines for procedural changes are effected. Chan noted that such a follow-up mechanism is included in the amendment.

The new law is scheduled to take effect from October this year.

Five new drugs prohibited

Also approved unanimously was the first reading of the amendment to law 17/2009, which regulates the prohibition of narcotic and psychotropic substances’ production, trafficking, and consumption in Macau.

As explained by the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, the changes are mostly related to the introduction of new drugs to the list of illegal substances, following anti-drug work undertaken by international partners, he said.

The new list will prohibit five new substances. Of these, four are included in the I-A table (opium, alkaloids, and similar substances) and one is included in the II-B table (amphetaminic-type substances and central nervous system stimulants).

Substances added to the I-A list are 2-Methyl-AP-237 (2-MAP), Etazene, Etonitazepyne, and Protonitazene. The substance added to table II-B is the synthetic cannabinoid ADB-BUTINACA.

Questioned by lawmakers, Wong said that from 2021 to 2023, a total of 17 cases of synthetic cannabinoids were found and seized in Macau.

Still, the number of drug-addicted individuals in Macau is not considered to be concerningly high, based on data from the Social Welfare Bureau.

In the first half of this year, there were 96 cases of people in Macau registered as drug addicts, including five cases of young people aged 21 and below.