Narcotics control dept plans digital forensic lab to strengthen drug investigations
The Tk12.29 crore project has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval and is scheduled to run from October this year to June 2029
Highlights:
- DNC plans a Tk12.29 crore digital forensic laboratory
- The facility aims to accelerate narcotics-related digital investigations
- Traffickers increasingly use digital platforms and cryptocurrencies
- DNC currently lacks its own digital forensic laboratory
- Laboratory will recover deleted files and encrypted messages
- Forensics could help identify and prosecute trafficking masterminds
The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) has taken an initiative to establish a digital forensic laboratory to speed up and improve the accuracy of forensic examinations of digital devices seized from drug dealers and investigations into narcotics-related crimes.
The Tk12.29 crore project has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval and is scheduled to run from October this year to June 2029.
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DNC officials said drug traffickers were increasingly using digital platforms and modern technology, including WhatsApp, Telegram, imo, Messenger and VPNs, for communication, audio and video calls, location sharing and financial transactions.
They also use private social media groups, online portals, mobile financial services, cryptocurrencies and various apps to expand their networks, supply drugs and transfer money.
Although the DNC regularly seizes computers, laptops, mobile phones, hard drives and other digital devices, it does not have a laboratory of its own to analyse messages, videos and other digital evidence.
Sending such evidence to other agencies delays investigations and creates a risk of important evidence being lost or compromised, officials said.
The proposed laboratory would recover encrypted messages and deleted files, track locations and analyse videos and other digital evidence, helping investigators build evidence-based cases.
Planning Commission officials said the facility aims to analyse around 1,200 mobile devices, 600 computers, hard drives, pen drives and servers, as well as 500 videos, 750 audio files and 1,500 images annually.
The project proposes three mobile forensic solution sets, one video and image forensic solution, two computer forensic solution sets, six high-performance workstations and one portable workstation. It would also have a main server and a storage server for data storage and backup, with trained personnel to operate the software.
HM Mostafizur Rahman, assistant director of the DNC's procurement, planning and development sub-division, told The Business Standard that small-time dealers or carriers were often arrested during anti-drug drives while the main operators remained beyond reach.
"Most of the time, small-time dealers or carriers are arrested during anti-drug drives, while the main operators remain beyond reach," he said.
"Forensic examination of the devices used by those arrested can help identify other members of the network and bring the masterminds under the law," he said.
He said suspects might avoid arrest or prosecution when drugs were not recovered and evidence was insufficient. "But if digital evidence is found through forensic examination, they can be arrested, and cases can be filed against them," he added.
