To bring the enlisted top drug dealers to book, different government organisations will probe into their properties and bank accounts said, insiders.

Suggesting that the dealers will be tried under Money Laundering Act, they said, “In most cases careers and retail sellers of narcotics are punished at courts, the top dealers who administer the business from behind go scot-free as per the existing law (Narcotics Control Act-1990), only the person from whose possession narcotics is recovered can be punished.”

It has been known from top-level government sources that National Board of Revenue (NBR), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), being assisted by the central bank will probe into the source of income, income tax return, bank accounts and land properties of the listed top dealers of narcotics.

Special Superintendent of CID Molla Nazrul Islam told the Bangla Tribune, “In a sense, every narcotics case is a money laundering case. Due to lack of manpower, we cannot investigate into all the cases.”

Observing that drug dealers can also be tried under Money Laundering Act, the CID official said, “We are probing into such money laundering cases in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Cox’s Bazar.”

Observing that if ACC or DNC give them information on top drug dealers they will probe into them, NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan also made the same conclusion, “Steps can be taken against them under Money Laundering Act.”
Informing that Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) has given a list of top drug dealers to ACC, its Deputy Director Mukul Jyoti Chakma said, “Initiatives have been taken to bring them under trial under Income Tax Act, Money Laundering Act and ACC Act.”

Besides this list, ACC itself is preparing a list, through its own intelligence unit, of top dealers and investigation into their properties and bank accounts said a senior ACC official.
The ACC source said DNC has given a list of 150 top dealers and other intelligence units have given 100 more names. Wealth and bank accounts of all of them will be probed.