Pakistan’s government has merged its narcotics control operations into the Interior Ministry, marking the end of a separate anti-drug bureaucracy that had operated independently for several years, officials announced Wednesday.
The merger, detailed in a notification from the newly minted Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control, brings the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) — Pakistan’s primary drug enforcement agency — under direct Interior Ministry oversight as an attached department.
The changes were implemented through notification S.R.O 83(1)/2025 dated February 4th, 2025.GoP
Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi, who also held the Narcotics Control portfolio, will continue to oversee both operations under the merged ministry.
The reorganization represents the latest shift in Pakistan’s evolving approach to drug control, which has seen multiple administrative changes since the country first established dedicated narcotics control institutions in 1989.
"All correspondence related to narcotics control will now be addressed to the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control,” said Uzair Ahmed, Deputy Secretary, in the official notification.
Decades of restructuring
Pakistan initially established the Ministry of Narcotics Control in 1989, operating alongside the Pakistan Narcotics Control Board. In 1995, the board was merged with the Anti Narcotics Task Force to form the ANF, which became the ministry’s enforcement arm.
While the ministry gained full independent status in 2002, it has alternated between autonomy and integration with the Interior Ministry. It was previously merged as a division within Interior in 2013, regained independence in 2017, and now returns to Interior Ministry control, though this time as a specialized wing rather than a division.
The restructuring comes as Pakistan continues to face significant challenges in combating drug trafficking, particularly given its proximity to Afghanistan. A November U.N. report showed opium cultivation in Afghanistan rose 19% in 2024, with production shifting notably to the northeastern provinces bordering Pakistan.
The administrative changes also follow recent public debate over Pakistan’s drug control efforts, highlighted by October’s controversial acquittal in a high-profile Karachi case involving crystal meth use, which sparked widespread criticism of the country’s narcotics enforcement mechanisms.
