Investigate the drug cases seriously

It is quite concerning that 59 percent of drug-related cases in Bangladesh cannot be proven in court. The daily Prothom Alo analysed the verdicts of 500 drug cases resolved across 26 districts, including Dhaka, between January 2021 and June 2025, and found that in 296 cases all the accused were acquitted, while convictions were made in only 204 cases. The review also revealed that investigations in such cases rarely went beyond the primarily arrested individuals. No new information was uncovered beyond initial reports, and charge sheets contained no details about any patrons, protectors, or financiers, leaving main offenders beyond law enforcement's reach. This is deeply alarming.

In short, the Prothom Alo investigation has found 16 major shortcomings preventing drug-related crimes from being proven in court. These include faulty FIRs, weak investigations, lack of witnesses, inaccurate seizure lists, contradictory statements by law enforcement officers, questionable chemical test reports, failure of the complainant or investigating officer to testify, other procedural errors, and negligence by both investigators and the prosecution.

In 237 of the 296 acquitted drug cases, the absence or unreliability of neutral witnesses was a key reason, while flaws in searches, FIRs, and investigations contributed to 48 more acquittals. Investigating officers failed to testify in 126 cases, complainants in 79, and in 66 cases, neither appeared in court. The problems are further highlighted in a research report by the Department of Criminology and Police Science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University that found that in five drug-related cases in Sylhet, a single police informant was repeatedly used as a witness, merely signing seizure documents when called. Moreover, chemical testing, crucial for verifying the substance and determining punishments, was mishandled in 23 cases, leading to full acquittals. These patterns reveal systemic negligence and malpractice in investigations and prosecutions.

In 2020, both the Police Headquarters and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) issued directives instructing officers to identify full drug networks and trace money flows in drug seizure cases. However, an analysis of 20 DMP case reports by Prothom Alo found that these directives were not followed. Investigators only charged the carriers, without uncovering the sources, destinations, or wider networks involved.

Clearly, the current police/legal approach to dealing with drug cases is deeply flawed, focusing only on low-level offenders and ignoring the main networks. If the success of law enforcement operations is measured by the quantity of drugs seized and the number of cases filed, rather than the effectiveness of targeting the entire drug trafficking network, nothing will change. Only through rigorous, well-supervised investigations, active prosecution, and a strong governmental commitment to enforce the law can we hope to stop the spread of drugs and bring the kingpins of the trade to justice.