By Rhealyn C. Pojas Reporter
The House of Delegates passed on first reading the bill that seeks to increase the amount of bail bond for drug traffickers.
President Tommy Remengesau Jr., previously proposed through a bill to amend Section 604, Chapter 6 of Title 13 of the Palau National Code to include the prevention of the tampering with witnesses or evidence and to ensure that the accused who has a pending trial for violation of the same code will not “re-offend or continue to offend while awaiting disposition of the case.
[restrict]
Remengesau previously pointed out that the currently imposed amount of bail is no longer applicable, citing that the price of methamphetamine has increased and drug traffickers are already charging as much as $1,000 per gram which only makes a bail of $1,000 or $2,000 “no more than the cost of doing business.”
If passed, the bail for cases involving the transport, sale, distribution, or possession of methamphetamine will be $10,000 or 10 times its estimated street value.
The proposed bill also wishes to include that the determination of the court or official should take into account the criminal history of the accused, the likelihood of the accused to tamper with witnesses or evidence, and the likelihood of the accused to re-offend while on release in addition to the current provisions.
If passed, the bail for cases involving the transport, sale, distribution, or possession of methamphetamine will be $10,000 or 10 times its estimated street value. [/restrict]