DNC planning to buy phone trackers

With an aim to detect narcotics rings and the masterminds behind it, the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) has proposed to buy a mobile tracker system.

The anti-narcotics authority has also taken steps to set up a digital forensic centre so that they can check the history of a digital device used by narcotics dealers or traders.

Confirming the development, Md Mehedi Hasan, assistant director (AD) of DNC, told The Daily Star yesterday that they have already started work to set up a digital forensic centre and buy mobile tracker system to intensify anti-narcotics operation.

The director general (DG) of DNC has already given his approval a day back to formed a committee to work into the issue, according to officials of DNC.

The committee will be formed with representatives from the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, home ministry, post and telecommunication ministry, police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), they said.

According to sources, DNC DG Muhammed Ahsanul Jabbar in a letter proposed to buy the digital mobile tracker for the agency.

The letter addressing the secretary of BTRC reads that DNC has already got approval from the home ministry for lawful interception facility. However, the agency is failing to conduct successful drives in absence of a mobile tracker.

It often became difficult to trace the position of a narcotics trader without a tracker, reads the letter send by DG DNC.

DG Jabbar further mentioned that if an approval can be given to buy tracker for the agency then it would be easier to bring the mastermind of narcotics trade to book.

AD Mehedi Hasan said that the mobile tracking system will not only allow them to trace the actual position of the dealer but also the communication details and identities of the masterminds behind the smuggling racket.

Regarding the digital forensic centre, Mehedi said that in many cases the accused people remove the contents from their cell phone after communication. "We will be able to recover the contents after setting up the centre," he explained.

The mobile tracker and forensic centre will increase the strength of DNC operation, he added.

Officials claimed that DNC have already increased their vigilance and increased anti-narcotics drive to battle the trading of drugs such as yaba.

According to database, around 3.71 lakh yaba pills were seized in November and 3.33 lakh in October. But in July of this year, the figure was only 1.40 lakh and 1.74 lakh in August. Around 3.18 crore yaba tablets were recovered in 11 months of this year while the figure was 346 crore in 2019, reads the DNC database.

The figure was 2.94 crore in 2016, 4.79 crore in 2017 and around 5.30 crore in 2018.

Md Bazlur Rahman, assistant director (operation) of DNC, told The Daily Star, "We are adopting new techniques every day so that narcotics traders do not get the chance to smuggle yaba."

AD Bazlur, however, did not disclose the operation techniques for security reasons.

Meanwhile, the DNC authority is planning to conduct a dope test among the agency officials.

"We are planning to start the dope test from January 2 of this year," said a high official of DNC, requesting anonymity.