628Carrying on business of trafficking

628 Carrying on business of trafficking (1) This section applies to an offence against— (a) section 603 (1) (which is about trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug); or (b) section 603 (3) (which is about trafficking in a commercial quantity of a controlled drug); or (c) section 603 (5) (which is about trafficking in a trafficable quantity of cannabis); or (d) section 622 (1) (which is about supplying a commercial quantity of a controlled drug to a child for selling). (2) For the application of this section to an offence against section 622 (1), a reference to trafficking in drugs is a reference to supplying drugs. (3) In a prosecution for an offence, the prosecution may establish that the defendant trafficked in the quantity of a controlled drug required for the offence (the required quantity), without proof of trafficking in the required quantity on a particular occasion, by establishing that— (a) the person carried on a business of trafficking in controlled drugs; and (b) the required quantity of the controlled drug (or a combination of controlled drugs) was trafficked over repeated transactions in the course of the business.

(4) For a person’s conduct to be the carrying on of a business, the trier of fact must be satisfied that the conduct establishes that the person was engaged in an organised commercial activity involving repeated transactions. (5) In a prosecution in which this section is relied on— (a) it is not necessary for the prosecution to state or prove the exact date of each transaction or the exact quantity trafficked in each transaction; and (b) the prosecution may not rely on a transaction if the defendant has already been tried and found guilty or acquitted of an offence against this chapter in relation to the transaction; and (c) section 604 (Trafficking offence—presumption if trafficable quantity possessed etc) and section 623 (Supplying offence— presumption if trafficable quantity supplied etc) do not apply. (6) If the prosecution intends to rely on this section— (a) that fact must be stated in the charge; and (b) a description of the conduct that establishes, under this section, that the defendant trafficked in the required quantity of a controlled drug must be stated in the charge or given to the defendant within a reasonable time before the trial. (7) If a person has been tried and found guilty or acquitted of an offence in a prosecution in which this section was relied on, the person may not be charged with another offence against this chapter that is claimed to have been committed in connection with any of the transactions on which the prosecution relied in that prosecution. (8) Except as mentioned in subsection (5) (b) or (7), this section does not prevent a person being charged with separate offences in relation to conduct on different occasions.