Officers from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested 554 individuals during a series of intensive anti-crime sweeps conducted across various neighbourhoods of the capital over the past 24 hours. Alongside the mass arrests, law enforcement personnel recovered substantial quantities of illicit narcotics and incriminating items, filing 30 separate criminal cases against the suspects as part of an ongoing security initiative to curb urban crime and drug trafficking.
Md Aktar Hossain, Deputy Commissioner of Police for the Media and Public Relations Division of the DMP, confirmed the operational outcomes on Saturday, highlighting the expansive reach of the coordinated police actions.
The coordinated operations yielded a significant haul of contraband substances meant for distribution within the city. Police seized 5,445 pieces of Yaba tablets, 31.2 kilograms of cannabis, and 20 bottles of Escaf cough syrup. Beyond narcotics, investigators recovered 21 mobile phones, 8 bank visa or credit cards, a private car, and 146 SIM cards belonging to various mobile network operators, pointing towards organised syndicate involvement in illicit trades.
The crackdown spanned across all administrative divisions of the metropolitan area, reflecting the scale of the police deployment and the strategic focus on high-risk zones. Mirpur division recorded the highest number of arrests with 174 individuals detained, followed by Wari with 85, and Uttara with 61. Other divisions also registered notable figures, including 57 arrests in Motijheel, 56 in Tejgaon, 47 in Gulshan, 32 in Lalbagh, and 31 in Ramna. In addition, specialised units contributed to the tally, with the Detective Branch arresting four individuals and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit apprehending seven suspects.
Authorities stated that legal proceedings against all arrested individuals are currently underway in accordance with existing penal codes. Regular sweeps of this nature remain a core strategy for the metropolitan police aimed at dismantling criminal networks, curbing local crime rates, and restricting the illegal drug supply chain within the densely populated capital. Local communities frequently welcome such visibility from law enforcement, though civil society groups consistently emphasise the need for targeted rehabilitation alongside punitive measures to address the root causes of urban narcotics use.
