Photo: Hon. Kareem Musa
by Marco Lopez
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 24, 2023
The Amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act earlier this year went under the radar. The amendment, which is in line with a laundry list of recommendations handed down by the Caribbean Financial Task Force, was officially passed in the Senate during the June 19 sitting. It seeks to increase the penalty for persons charged with trying to conceal or disguise proceeds from Drug Trafficking.
Section 48(4), the only part of the bill that was amended, speaks to the penalties which are to be imposed on persons who are guilty of offenses under 48(1) and 48(2). A person is guilty of an offense if they – for the purpose of avoiding prosecution for a drug trafficking case, conceal or disguise property which is in whole or in part directly proceeds of the criminal activity.
Section 2 provides penalties for persons who assist others to avoid prosecution by concealing, disguising, or transferring property out of the country.
The 2020 amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Act outlines that a person guilty of an offense under the section is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding twenty thousand dollars on summary conviction. The penalty for conviction on indictment was at the time set for imprisonment not exceeding ten years, and a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars.
These penalties were too loose for the evaluation from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the advice handed down to the government – in order for the country to be in line with the December 2023 evaluation – is to increase penalties for persons found liable for the offense.
On June 19, the Senate passed the Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment with very little fanfare – as a part of a slew of 6 other bills seeking to bring the country in line with the FATF recommendation in time for the implementation deadline of the legislation which is imposed on the government.
As a result, the amendment to section 48(4) of the Misuse of Drugs Act increases the penalties on summary conviction for imprisonment not to exceed two years – to ten. The fine laid out in that section increases from twenty thousand dollars to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Section (b) of the legislation, which speaks to the penalties for a conviction on indictment, increases the limit on the term of imprisonment from ten years to twenty years. The fine in the section is increased from fifty thousand to one million dollars.
During an interview this week, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries, Hon. Kareem Musa spoke on the amendment. He was asked if the changes to the penalties are in fact real.
“Yes, it is real. It is in accordance with our international obligations with CFATF, one of many, a slew of various amendments that the government has had to pass to show that it is, in particular, addressing these serious offenses,” Musa said.
Musa shared that cannabis should not be one of the illicit drugs the way the current laws in Belize trump it up to be.
“The moment that we do that, all of these other offences will have to be removed from the law altogether. But for the meantime, so long as it remains an illicit drug – like these other countries that are in compliance with CFATF, we have to increase the penalties in the meantime. But again, I continue to advocate that cannabis is one of those substances that should not be subject to this, and I am certain that Cabinet would also agree with me,” Musa said.
But until we get to that point, “these are international obligations that we have to comply with,” Musa said.