INEXTRICABLY linked, illicit economies and organised crime pose extreme threats to societies. In Karachi’s underprivileged and volatile areas, the proliferation of drug mafias is historically attributed to complex connections between drug traders, powerful political patrons and corrupt law-enforcement personnel known to support criminal gangs. This week, the dangerous and highly complex nexus between drug mafias, law enforcers, lawyers and politicians was revealed in a damning police report compiled four months into an ongoing anti-drug operation in Chanesar Goth. Operation Detail Report — Chanesar Goth, PS Mehmoodabad unveils the shocking levels of law enforcers’ complicity with drug mafias — including officials from the police, Special Branch and the Excise Department. It also discusses the patronage of selected political actors. For three decades, this entrenched network has increased impunity for criminal activity ranging from drug peddling to targeted killings, extortion and kidnapping. Out of the 160 or so arrests made, many were police personnel stationed at the ‘lucrative’ Mehmoodabad police station for years and bankrolled with drug money. Not only is this a stark reminder of the deep rot within the institution mandated to fight crime and protect citizens, it also demonstrates that cleaning up Karachi warrants a depoliticised police force.

When impunity for criminal activity increases, it undermines the credibility and deterrence effects of law enforcement, the judicial system, and government authority. The report rightly calls for the prosecution of those guilty of patronising criminals in order to send a clear message that corruption and criminality undermine institutional ethics. Moreover, residents from violence-prone areas say that even though law-enforcement deficiencies and social-service provision are addressed intermittently, the drug mafia remains unstoppable despite the continuing Karachi operation. Anti-crime strategies combining law-enforcement approaches with socioeconomic policies are likely to be more effective in suppressing crime than tough-fist measures.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2018