Drug Offences Laws in Pakistan

Pakistan ratified the UN Single Convention on Narcotics in 1961 and acceded to the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances in 1977. The CNSA was enacted in 1997 as a comprehensive code in response to the 1988 UN Convention, which Pakistan ratified in 1991. The Act has since been amended, with the 2022 Amendment reforming sentencing and the 2023 Amendment removing the death penalty for drug offences [citation:4].

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) is a paramilitary force created under the Anti-Narcotics Force Act 1997. Under Section 24 of the CNSA, the ANF can stop and search any conveyance or dwelling with a warrant, or without one if delay might result in evidence being destroyed or removed. Section 25 does away with the requirement that witnesses be present during a search [citation:4].

Under Section 29 of the CNSA, there is a presumption of guilt arising from the possession of narcotics. The prosecution only has to show that drugs were found in the accused's possession to create this presumption, which must then be displaced. Section 25 and Section 29 taken together make it significantly easier to secure convictions under the CNSA [citation:4].

Chapter 4 of the CNSA creates an infrastructure for tracing, freezing, and seizing assets thought to be linked to narcotics. Under Section 68, where there is reasonable ground to believe that any assets were acquired through commission of an offence under the CNSA, they are liable to seizure as proceeds of an offence unless the contrary is proven with respect to each asset [citation:4].

Chapter 5 of the CNSA creates a system of special drug courts. In these courts, prosecutors work directly for the Anti-Narcotics Force. The CNSA also provides for remand for 90 days under Section 49A, which is longer than what is provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure [citation:4].

Research shows that Pakistan's drug enforcement system is geared towards seizing individual consignments and handing down harsh punishments for carriers or "mules" transporting them. 41% of prisoners surveyed under the CNSA were illiterate, with a median income of around Rs10,000 per month — lower than the minimum wage [citation:10].