Blowing the illegal drugs trade

Many illegal drugs on the streets start life as legally made precursors. A report by the US State Department points out some of the problems and possible solutions. Philip Fine and Keith Nuthall report

The US is calling for countries to provide information on their legal pharmaceutical and bulk chemical industries to facilitate apprehension of those who are using them for illegal purposes.

In its comprehensive annual report on worldwide drugs activities, the US State Department places some of the blame on government political structures for the fact that many legal chemicals end up in the hands of illicit drug manufacturers. The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of 2002 says that many countries consider chemical and pharmaceutical control a trade issue and are leaving the matter to trade ministries who are more concerned with the free flow of goods than regulating controlled substances.

'If these ministries do not allow sufficient scope for enforcement measures in support of chemical control, they may unwittingly undermine effective counternarcotics strategy,' says the report's section on trade controls.

common methods

It goes on to say that trade ministries are giving in to fears that disclosing chemical industry transactions will leave companies competitively vulnerable. 'This concern is unfounded. There is no evidence that the information exchange now occurring is abused by governments or firms,' it states.

The report outlines some of the methods used to obtain drugs and other chemicals for illicit purposes:

• Precursors are diverted from domestic production to illicit in-country drug manufacture;

• They are imported legally into drug-producing countries with official permits and subsequently diverted;

• Drug ingredients are manufactured in or imported by one country, diverted from domestic commerce, and smuggled into neighbouring drug-producing countries;

• Chemicals are mislabelled throughout a transaction as non-controlled substances;

• They are shipped to countries or regions where no systems exist for their control.

Among the many countries studied, the report identifies China as a significant precursor source country with little infrastructure to monitor properly the chemicals that get diverted.

It also says that significant amounts of heroin, amphetamine and methamphetamine production are being aided by India's legitimate pharmaceutical and chemical industry, which produces ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and acetic anhydride.

The report also warns of the re-emergence of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, creating a demand for chemicals to process it into heroin.

In the EU, the report singled out Germany as being most vulnerable to criminal exploitation because of its large number of chemical companies, though it did give the country high marks for being in the forefront of international cooperation in precursor control, having developed many of the detailed international investigations.

The paper considers a string of other countries around the world, including those with developing economies. For instance, in Madagascar, the report cites a draft national anti-drug plan mentioning the diversion of morphine priced at 300,000 Malagasy Francs per dose (about US$55) into illicit use at a small number of big city nightclubs.

Generally, said the report, all countries that deal in regulated chemicals – exporting, trading, transit, and importing – must co-operate better in a freer exchange of information. 'Rapid multilateral information exchange between their national authorities on proposed transactions in regulated chemicals is essential to identify and stop or seize suspect shipments,' it said.

warning bells

The American Chemistry Council's Marybeth Kelliher says one of the keys to keeping control over illicit products is for companies to know the end use. She said warning bells should ring where 'there is someone who consistently buys in cash, or if their order suddenly quadruples in one month.'

The question for some is how do countries that have signed world drug precursor-control agreements get away with not reporting their activities? Herbert Schaepe, secretary of the United Nations‚ Narcotic Control Board, told Manufacturing Chemist that while the three UN conventions on drug control do impose reporting obligations on more than 160 signatory countries regarding their trade in precursor chemicals, there is a certain vagueness that allows countries sometimes to skirt detailed reporting. He singles out the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances for criticism here. '(It) is very generally phrased and does not give details on what precisely needs to be done.'

Schaepe also wants countries to firm up their own legislation. For instance, he cited a recent change to Canadian law that will come into effect in January 2004 and will help stem the illegal flow of ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine into the 'thousands of US amphetamine labs.'

That said, the report calls on the Canadian government to do more: 'There has been an alarming increase in the amount of pseudoephedrine diverted from Canada to clandestine drug laboratories in the US, where it is used to make methamphetamine.

The regulations to restrict the availability of pseudoephedrine, which the government of Canada has just promulgated, should be stronger, and the government had an 'inadequate control of illicit diversion of precursor chemicals. But it did 'commend Canadian law enforcement agencies, which continue to work energetically to support our joint law enforcement efforts.'