Crackdown must concentrate on source of drugs: CMP

If the source of illegal drugs is not rooted out, the anti-narcotics crackdown will not bring any effective result, a police officer said, reports bdnews24.com.

"It is extremely difficult to eradicate drugs if the source is not closed down," said Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Md Iqbal Bahar at a programme in the port city on Saturday.

At least 123 people have been killed in anti-drug drives since the government started the crackdown on May 18.

Security forces have maintained that the suspects were involved in drug trafficking and resisted arrest leading to gun battles that left them dead.

Human rights leaders raised questions over the killings following complaints from the victims' families and demanded separate investigations into the 'extrajudicial killings' during the anti-drug operations.

"Drugs may enter Bangladesh through 10 points, but spread to 10,000 or 50,000 points. It is very difficult to bring 50,000 people of 50,000 places to justice," Bahar said.

"If we can close down the source, it will be easier to curb the spread of drugs to a large extent."

Bahar said police shut most of the 145 drug hotspots in Chattogram city.