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THE country has recorded a persistent increase in drug-related crimes over the past three years, with a total of 242,075 cases reported and 306,230 individuals arrested between 2023 and 2025, according to the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID).
NCID director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the figures reflected a steady upward trend in offences, with the number of cases rising from 73,340 in 2023 to 81,090 in 2024, before reaching 87,645 last year. Arrests followed a similar trajectory, increasing from 94,799 in 2023 to 102,201 in 2024, and 109,230 in 2025.
“This rise involves offences such as drug trafficking and possession, including seizures of substances such as methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA and cannabis,” Hussein told Kosmo! Ahad.
He explained that investigations into trafficking cases were conducted under Section 39B, Section 39A(2), Section 39A(1) and Section 6B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, while possession offences were investigated under Section 12(3) and Section 6 of the same Act, as well as Section 9 and Section 30(3) of the Poisons Act 1952.
Highlighting a strategic shift in the country’s national drugs policy, Hussein said authorities would move from a primarily reactive enforcement approach to a more comprehensive preventive framework over the next five years.
“While enforcement will continue to be strengthened with zero compromise towards syndicates and traffickers, the focus will be enhanced at grassroots level through education, community engagement and religious institutions,” he said.
“This approach is important because every new addict reflects a failure in prevention, not a success in enforcement.”
Hussein added that the NCID’s long-term aim is to reduce demand, dismantle supply networks, and safeguard future generations from the cycle of addiction and crime, emphasising that proactive prevention at the community level is central to curbing the nation’s growing drug problem. - March 29, 2026
