Guidance Note for Completing the Questionnaire on Implementation of Recommendations
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Guidance Note for completing the questionnaire on implementation of recommendations The Secretariat kindly invites Governments to follow the guidelines below when replying to the questionnaire: Summarize action taken on the implementation of each recommendation in no more than 200 words; Provide complete references to legislation or to any other document if relevant for the implementation of each recommendation; Where possible and applicable, provide quantified data in addition to description of action taken; If applicable, provide information on the main obstacles to the implementation of a recommendation. Issue I Role of the Internet in addressing drug trafficking and abuse Recommendation 1 Governments are encouraged to develop, with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), guidelines and standard operating procedures for handling digital evidence and investigations into Internet-related drug crimes and cryptocurrency seizures, as well as to identify modalities for sharing best practices and experiences in addressing those issues. Any action taken YES NO Comments: The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB)’s Investigation Division carries out investigations into internet-related drug trafficking cases by seizing digital exhibits such as mobile phones, laptops, hard-disks where there might be records of the drug transactions that were made. The exhibits will be sent for forensic analysis to extract records of drug activities made over the internet. The findings will then be provided in a report and the report may be used in court as evidence. Recommendation 2 Governments are encouraged to allocate sufficient resources and build national capacities and capabilities in the field of online investigations, digital forensics and cryptocurrencies, as well as to cooperate with Internet service providers, in order to counter drug-related offences. Any action taken YES NO Comments: CNB sends officers involved in online investigations for training and capacity building courses, such as the Open Source Intelligence Masterclass, Cyber Investigator Course and Cybercrime and Cybercrime Investigation Workshop. These training course covers content related to the field of online investigations, digital forensics and cryptocurrencies and engagement with Internet Service Providers and enables capacity-building in topics such as investigating the “Dark Web”, latest tools for collecting and analysing social media intelligence, capturing, organising and storing web-based evidence for criminal and civil cases, cryptography, computer forensics and cybercrimology. 1 Recommendation 3 Governments should encourage their law enforcement agencies to set up specialized units to deal with the use of the Internet and other technologies for drug trafficking, with a special focus on investigations into the darknet and cryptocurrencies, to appoint focal points, as appropriate, and to ensure better integration between those units and their counterpart cybercrime units, as well as to conduct joint operations to counter the use of the Internet in the commission of drug-related crime. Any action taken YES NO Comments: CNB’s Intelligence Division is constantly monitoring the use of the surface web, the darknet and other technologies in drug-related activities. The Intelligence Division is also on the constant look out for new technologies that would help in the investigations of web-enabled drug trafficking e.g. blockchain analysis tools that analyse targeted cryptocurrency movements to facilitate detection of possible illicit drug transactions and activities. CNB works closely with its counterpart from the Singapore Police Force to detect and deter the misuse of internet in the commission of drug-related crime. Recommendation 4 Governments should continue to use the Internet to conduct awareness-raising and drug abuse prevention campaigns, targeting, in particular, young people. Any action taken YES NO 2 Comments: CNB embarked on a social media rebranding campaign in 2016 to consolidate the various social media assets under the brand name of CNB.DrugFreeSG and adopted a more youth-centric and light-hearted tonality of our social media voice. Efforts were stepped up in 2017 to establish a stronger social media presence, with the objective of growing a large and highly engaged digital community to challenge online drug-tolerant sentiments. For a start, CNB has focused on the expansion of our follower bases on the two most popular social media platforms – Facebook and Instagram. In general, Facebook is more popular with adults while Instagram appeals more to youths. To maintain an ‘always-on’ presence on social media, CNB had invested in media buys (i.e. paid ads) to promote the visibility and reach of selected posts. This approach enables CNB to push relevant preventive drug education (PDE) messages to our targeted audiences based on their demographic profiles, which also act as a countermeasure to address their exposure to online influences. As of Jul 2019, CNB had accumulated over 100,000 and 6,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram respectively. Leading up to 2020, CNB expects to sustain the momentum of our social media growth by continuing to produce emotive videos that tugged at the heart-strings, bite-sized PDE contents in the forms of short videos and concise infographics – based on scientific evidence from authoritative sources (e.g. medical bodies, research institutions) – to appeal to the rationality of local audiences and dispel drug myths. Recommendation 5 Governments are encouraged to engage in and promote cooperation at the regional and international levels in the area of the use of the Internet and modern technologies in the commission of drug-related crimes through, inter alia, platforms for research and joint training. Any action taken YES NO Comments: 3 CNB actively participates in regional and international conferences and meetings where Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), industries and academia gather to share advancement and development in communication and cyber technologies as well as best practices. Most recently, CNB attended a workshop convened by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). It is a Public-Private Partnership platform, which INCB invited representatives and experts from governments, internet- related service companies and international organizations worldwide to meet and exchange experiences, latest information, and intelligence related to trafficking in NPS, synthetic opioids and precursors through the surface web, especially on e-commerce platforms. CNB has seen an increase in the number of online drug trafficking cases over these past few years. The illegal narcotics being ordered through the internet are couriered into Singapore through legitimate logistics companies. To tackle these challenges, CNB supports and promotes the International Narcotics Enforcement Programme (INEP) where anti-narcotics agencies from the ASEAN region participate in combined training modules, of which one was a visit to logistics companies where the participants got to learn more about the challenges in policing contrabands within the logistics networks. 4 Issue II Measures to counter the illicit manufacturing of, the diversion of and trafficking in precursors Recommendation 1 Governments are encouraged to develop robust national legislation and regulatory mechanisms on precursor controls in order to better monitor and respond to flows of precursor chemicals. Any action taken YES NO Comments: Singapore has put in place robust national legislation and regulatory mechanisms; to effectively monitor precursor chemicals and enforce against its illicit manufacturing, diversion or trafficking. The relevant legislation is found within the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). It provides for the offence to manufacture, supply, possess, import or export (including tranship) a controlled substance, knowing or having reason to believe that the controlled substance is to be used in the manufacture of any controlled drug as listed in the First Schedule of the MDA. Any person convicted of this offence shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding 20 years or with a fine not exceeding $200,000 or with both. The MDA also provides for the Minister for Home Affairs to make regulations for: a) The licensing of persons who intend to import or export any controlled substances; b) The regulation and control of the import or export of any controlled substances; c) Imposing requirements for the registration of premises used in connection with the import or, export, manufacture, processing, storage, distribution or supply of any controlled substances; d) Imposing requirements as to the documentation of transactions involving any controlled substances; e) Requiring the keeping of records and the furnishing of information with respect to any controlled substances; f) The inspection and production of records kept pursuant to the regulations; and g) The labeling of consignments of any controlled substances. These regulations have been enacted and may be found within the Misuse of Drugs (Controlled equipment, material and substances) regulations. Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be punished with a fine not exceeding $10,000, imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or both, as may be specified in the regulations. It shall not be a defence, for any person who commits an offence relating to a controlled substance under the MDA to claim that the controlled