The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) was unable to tackle the drug menace in the country with “full might” because of lack of adequate manpower.

“We're unable to carry out operations at the grassroots level because of paucity of manpower. We are also unable to detain the kingpins running drug rackets for the same reason,” DNC director general Mohammed Jamal Uddin Ahmed told journalists yesterday.

Responding to a query about the Narcotics Control Act, 2018, Jamal Uddin Ahmed said: “We have given a list of drugs to the government that we want to be banned under the law. In addition, a proposed amendment to the Act will empower the department to ban any drug.”

He was speaking at a press briefing at the DNC’s head office in Tejgaon. Asked about the lack of mention in the law about the use of weapons by DNC officials, Ahmed said: “If the government thinks that we need to use weapons, then we will be given that power any time.”

He also said that his department has appealed to the home ministry to ban khat, a new psychotropic substance (NPS) drug. “We have conducted several raids and confiscated large amounts of khat. We have found that 20-22 people are involved in smuggling of this drug. We are conducting further investigation against them,” he noted.

“We hope khat will soon be banned as a drug,” he added.

He further said his department had conducted special drives across the country between September 20 and 26. During that period, 559 cases were filed and 603 people were arrested, he added. The department also carried out a total of 59,506 drives from January to August, filed 8,406 cases and arrested 9,320 drug dealers.