Drug misuse cases rose in four states led by East Coast states Kelantan and Terengganu. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — The national crime index ratio fell in 2017 to 309.7 cases per 100,000 population from 355.2 in the previous year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) revealed today.

Despite that, six states recorded crime indexes above the national average, with the rate in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur more than double the national figure at 716.9.

The other five states were: Selangor (408.6), Negri Sembilan (356.6), Melaka (339.2), Penang (318.3) and Kedah (315.3).

Sabah charted the lowest crime index overall at 157.7.

This comes as drug misuse cases rose in four states led by East Coast states Kelantan with 3,700 persons with substance misuse disorder, followed by Terengganu (2,044).

The other two states with increase in drug misuse were Sabah (1,047) and Federal Territories of Labuan (92).

In comparison, four states saw a decrease in drugs misuse: Perak, Melaka, Sarawak and Perlis.

Over half of drugs misuse cases involved methamphetamines — either in crystalline or pill form — followed by opiates such as morphine and heroin. Marijuana only constituted 4 per cent of total cases.

Both violent and property crimes also declined in 2017, dropping by 4.3 per cent to 21,366 cases and 13.6 per cent to 77,802 cases respectively.

Crime Statistics, Malaysia, 2018



The first publication released by Department of Statistics, Malaysia which presents selected crime statistics based on the administrative records obtained from various agencies.https://t.co/pGvvhbf0Pp pic.twitter.com/eujs6tQ00w — DOSM (@StatsMalaysia) December 28, 2018

Robbery made up around two-thirds of total violent crime cases (14,128 cases), followed by acts of bodily harm (5,024) and rape (1,835).

In addition, the number of investigation papers opened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recorded a decline of 12.4 per cent to 863 cases.

During the same period, the number of arrests made by the MACC also declined 6.4 per cent.

Earlier this year in March, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun revealed that the police recorded a 11.7 per cent drop in overall crime index in 2017 compared to the previous year.

He said violent crimes recorded a decrease of 960 cases while property crimes saw a decrease of 12,226 cases.