26. Powers of police officers and others when things suspected of being used in commission of offences found, received or acquired
(1) If there are reasonable grounds to suspect that any thing found or received during the exercise of the powers conferred by section 22 or 23 or by a search warrant or under any other circumstances is a thing referred to in section 23(1)(a), (b) or (c) a police officer or approved person, as the case requires, may seize that thing and ¾
(a) in the case of a thing which is a prohibited drug, prohibited plant or dangerous substance, may detain it until it is dealt with under section 27; or
(b) in the case of a thing which is not a prohibited drug, prohibited plant or dangerous substance, may detain it for a period not exceeding 72 hours from that seizure and shall, if he wishes to detain it for a longer period, apply within 72 hours from that seizure to a justice of the peace for a holding order in respect of that thing.
(2) A police officer who ¾
(a) whilst he is an authorised person and is acting as an undercover officer, acquires a prohibited drug or prohibited plant for the purpose of detecting the commission of an offence; or
(b) acquires a prohibited drug or prohibited plant as a result of its delivery to him by an authorised person who is not a police officer,
shall detain the prohibited drug or prohibited plant until it is dealt with under section 27.
(3) In subsection (2) ¾
}authorised person~ and }undercover officer~ have the respective meanings given by section 31.
[Section 26 amended by No. 50 of 1990 s. 7; No. 44 of 1995 s. 6.]