Case bangladesh-azhari-deepfake-drug-ringDeepfake fraudBangladesh
Bangladesh police arrest 10 who sold illegal drugs with deepfakes of preacher Azhari
Police arrested ten members of a ring that used AI to replicate scholar Mizanur Rahman Azhari's face and voice in ads across about 24 fake Facebook pages and websites selling illegal stimulant drugs; two were remanded.
MediumAttack using AIStatus: Under investigationVerified case file
Open in the interactive mapCite this case
- Reported
- Apr 23, 2026
- Location
- Bangladesh
- Target
- Bangladeshi online shoppers
- Severity
- Medium
- Triggered by
- Chattogram-based online fraud ring
- Actor type
- Criminal
- Reported loss
- None reported
- CVE
- None
What happened
Police arrested ten members of a ring that used AI to replicate scholar Mizanur Rahman Azhari's face and voice in ads across about 24 fake Facebook pages and websites selling illegal stimulant drugs; two were remanded.
Impact: 24 fake pages and sites; 11 laptops, 47 phones, 21 SIM cards and illegal drugs seized.
Who triggered it
Actor: Chattogram-based online fraud ring
Attribution: Nine arrested in Chattogram's Bayezid Bostami area and one in Dhaka's Mohammadpur under case No 19 at Paltan Model Police Station.
Motive: Sales of illegal products using a trusted religious figure's endorsement.
How it happened
Attack vector: Deepfake video adverts on Facebook pages directing to fake sites; payments collected via cash-on-delivery couriers.
Root cause: Easy face and voice cloning of a widely followed public figure.
Timeline
- Azhari first encounters fake videos using his identity
- General diary filed at Paltan Model Police Station
- Case registered under Cyber Security Act; nine arrested in Chattogram
- Tenth suspect arrested in Dhaka; court remands two
Response
Arrests, remand of two suspects, eight sent to jail pending trial.
Current status: Under investigation
Sources (open in a new tab)
- Prothom Alo prothomalo.com
- Jago News jagonews24.com
- ThreatCluster threatcluster.io
Cite this case
Bangladesh police arrest 10 who sold illegal drugs with deepfakes of preacher Azhari. AI Threat Watch, case bangladesh-azhari-deepfake-drug-ring, Apr 23, 2026. https://aithreat.io/cases/bangladesh-azhari-deepfake-drug-ring/
Permanent link: https://aithreat.io/cases/bangladesh-azhari-deepfake-drug-ring/