New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CONFISCATION OF PROCEEDS OF CRIME ACT 1989 - SECT 30

30 Assessment of proceeds of drug trafficking

(1) A court is to assess the benefits (if any) derived in connection with drug trafficking by having regard to information before the court concerning all or any of the following matters--

(a) the money, or the value of property other than money, that came into the possession or control of the defendant, or another person at the request or by the direction of the defendant, at any time in connection with drug trafficking by the defendant,

(b) the value of any benefit that was provided for the defendant, or for another person at the request or direction of the defendant, in respect of the defendant's involvement or participation in a public promotion relating to drug trafficking (or such part of the value of the benefit as is commensurate with the proportion of the defendant's involvement or participation that is concerned with drug trafficking),

(c) the value of any benefit, other than a benefit of a kind referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), that was provided for the defendant, or another person at the request or by the direction of the defendant, because of drug trafficking by the defendant,

(d) the market value, at the time of the drug trafficking, of substances similar or substantially similar to the prohibited drug or prohibited plant involved in the drug trafficking offence or offences,

(e) the amount that was, or the range of amounts that were, ordinarily paid for the doing of an act or thing similar or substantially similar to the doing of the act or thing constituting the drug trafficking,

(f) the value of the defendant's property appearing to the court--

(i) to have been held by the defendant at any time since his or her conviction, or

(ii) to have been transferred to the defendant at any time since the beginning of the period of 6 years that ended when the proceedings were instituted against the defendant,

(g) the value of the defendant's income and expenditure--

(i) at any time since his or her conviction, or

(ii) at any time since the beginning of the period of 6 years that ended when the proceedings were instituted against the defendant.

(2) In considering whether to treat a benefit of the kind referred to in subsection (1) (b) as a benefit derived in connection with drug trafficking, a court may have regard to any matter that it thinks fit, including the public interest and any research, educational or rehabilitative purpose of the public promotion concerned.

(3) If evidence is given that the value of the defendant's property or the defendant's income or expenditure--

(a) after the defendant committed drug trafficking offences, or

(b) during and after the end of the period of 6 years that ended when proceedings for the drug trafficking offences were last instituted against the defendant,

exceeded the value of the defendant's property or income or expenditure before the defendant committed the drug trafficking offences or before the commencement of that period then the court must treat the value of the benefits derived by the defendant because of drug trafficking by the defendant as being not less than the amount of the excess.

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to the whole or a part of the excess referred to in that subsection if the defendant satisfies the court that it was due to causes unrelated to drug trafficking or the commission of other serious offences.

(5) For the purposes of assessing the value of the proceeds of drug trafficking in a case where a drug proceeds order has previously been made against the defendant, the court must leave out of account any of the defendant's proceeds of drug trafficking that are shown to the court--

(a) to have been taken into account in determining the amount to be recovered in respect of drug trafficking under a previous drug proceeds order or pecuniary penalty order, or

(b) to have been recovered under an order made under the Criminal Assets Recovery Act 1990 .

(6) In assessing the value of the proceeds of drug trafficking of a defendant convicted of a drug trafficking offence or offences, any expenses or outgoings of the defendant in connection with the commission of the offence or offences must not be deducted.

Note : For example, in the case of an illegal activity involving the trafficking of drugs, in determining the value of the proceeds derived by the defendant from the trafficking of drugs there is to be no reduction on account of any expenditure by the defendant in acquiring the drugs.

(7) This section applies to and in relation to property that comes into the possession or under the control of a person either within or outside New South Wales, and to benefits that are provided for a person either within or outside New South Wales.