Court approves 105 interceptions by police

The report said the offences for which the warrants were granted include drug trafficking (42); gang activity (32); larceny (11); murder (three); corruption (three); money laundering (two); fraud (one) and tending to pervert the course of justice (ten).

One person was arrested during this period and three criminal proceedings have started.

There are no convictions as proceedings are pending before the courts.

There have been 101 criminal investigations based on information obtained as the result of the interception of a private communication under a warrant. Under the Interceptions of Communications Act, the commissioner, SSA director and the Defence Force chief of staff are authorised to apply to the court for warrants for interception of communication.

No such warrants were sought by the SSA director and the Defence Force chief of staff in 2015.

In the report, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon underscored the importance of interception of communication to curb crime. In addition to the 2016 report, Dillon also promised to lay the 2012, 2013 and 2014 which were never laid in Parliament by the last government.

The report said interception of communications, “facilitates the early detection of criminal conspiracies” and will continue to be used by authorised officers, “as part of their arsenal in curbing crime and minimising criminal activity and crime as a whole.” The report also said Government will continue to support, “a fair balance between the privacy of individuals and the legitimate activities of law enforcement” under the Act.