ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Tuesday inaugurated Pakistan’s first-ever criminal data bank which would record information about money laundering and narcotics-related crime.
During the ceremony held here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, President Alvi lauded the hard work and dedication of the Minister for Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi and his team for launching the initiative.
Secretary, Ministry of Narcotics Control Mohammad Amjad Saleemi, Director-General Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Maj-General Mohammad Arif Malik and other high ranking officials were present at the ceremony.
The project is titled, Project Ama’an. It was developed by Syed Tajjammul Hussain who also gave an overview presentation at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Addressing the audience, Minister for Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi said, “The government, under the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, would equip our forces with most modern gadgetry for us to be able to eradicate crime from the country,” adding that his team had been working on the project for the past 15 months.
“After hectic efforts, this project is being handed down to the ANF and the ministry to make good use of it. It provides one of the largest databases on individuals and organizations related to narcotics and money-laundering related crimes,” said Shehryar Afridi.
Elaborating on the major features of the data bank, the minister said, “The data in this solution updates in less than 10 minutes. New features of this project are under development which includes facial recognition and smart search and will make the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) one of the most advanced forces in the region.”