251Searches without warrant in emergency situations

251 Searches without warrant in emergency situations

(1) This section applies if an *authorised officer suspects, on reasonable grounds, that: (a) a thing constituting *tainted property or *evidential material is in or on a *conveyance; and (b) it is necessary to exercise a power under subsection (2) in order to prevent the thing from being concealed, lost or destroyed; and (c) it is necessary to exercise the power without the authority of a *search warrant because the circumstances are serious and urgent. (2) The officer may: (a) stop and detain the *conveyance; and (b) search the conveyance and any container in or on the conveyance, for the thing; and (c) seize the thing if he or she finds it there. (3) If, in the course of searching for the thing, the officer finds another thing constituting *tainted property or *evidential material, the officer may seize that thing if he or she suspects, on reasonable grounds, that: (a) it is necessary to seize it in order to prevent its concealment, loss or destruction; and (b) it is necessary to seize it without the authority of a *search warrant because the circumstances are serious and urgent. (4) The officer must exercise his or her powers subject to section 252.