Is transporting fresh opium poppies punishable by imprisonment?

Reply:Currently, the crime of illegally transporting narcotics is regulated under Article 250 of the 2015 Penal Code, as amended and supplemented by Clause 67, Article 1 of the 2017 amended and supplemented Penal Code.

* In the above case, Clause 1, Article 250 stipulates as follows:

1. Any person who illegally transports narcotic substances without the intention of producing, selling, or illegally possessing narcotic substances, in one of the following cases, shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 2 to 7 years:

a) Having been previously penalized for administrative violations related to the acts stipulated in this Article, or having been convicted of this crime or one of the crimes stipulated in Articles 248, 249, 251, and 252 of this Code, and not yet having their criminal record expunged, and committing the violation again;

b) Opium resin, cannabis resin, or coca paste weighing from 0.1 gram to less than 500 grams;

c) Heroine, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Amphetamine, MDMA, or XLR-11 in quantities from 0.1 grams to less than 0.5 grams;

d) Coca leaves; khat leaves (Catha edulis leaves); leaves, roots, stems, branches, flowers, fruits of the cannabis plant or parts of other plants containing narcotic substances as prescribed by the Government, with a weight from 1 kilogram to less than 10 kilograms;

d) Dried opium pods weighing from 0.5 kilograms to less than 50 kilograms;

e) Fresh opium pods weighing from 1 kilogram to less than 10 kilograms;

g) Other narcotic substances in solid form with a weight from 0.1 gram to less than 20 grams;

h) Other narcotic substances in liquid form with a volume from 10 milliliters to less than 100 milliliters;

i) There are two or more narcotic substances whose total weight or volume is equivalent to the weight or volume of narcotic substances specified in one of the points from point b to point h of this clause.

* The act of illegally transporting narcotics only constitutes a crime as stipulated in Article 250 of the 2015 Penal Code when the person committing the act of illegally transporting narcotics is fully aware that the substance they are transporting is a narcotic.

For their actions to constitute this crime, they must be aware that their illegal drug trafficking is dangerous to society but still intentionally commit the act for personal gain or other personal motives.

Therefore, transporting fresh opium pods weighing from 1 kilogram to less than 10 kilograms, without the purpose of producing, buying, or illegally possessing narcotics, may be punishable by imprisonment from 2 to 7 years.

In cases where a person transports narcotics but is unaware that they are narcotics (and can prove this), the act does not meet the elements of a crime. In other words, if the transporter is unaware that the substance is a narcotic, they will not be prosecuted for this crime.