Shipments of potassium permanganate to Central and South America

Shipments of potassium permanganate to Central and South America, 2000-2004 

With the current increase in both illicit opium cultivation and the subsequent manufacture of heroin in Afghanistan, the Board continues to pay special attention to shipments of acetic anhydride to the region. During 2004, however, no shipments of acetic anhydride in licit international trade were reported to Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan only two shipments have been imported by Pakistan. Furthermore, with the exception of a single seizure of 375 litres of acetic anhydride in Afghanistan, no seizures of the substance have been reported by any of those countries. 

Analysis of data on seizures of, and the illicit traffic in, precursors and trends in the illicit manufacture of drugs 

The present report contains seizure data for the five-year period 1999-2003 furnished by Governments under the provisions of article 12 of the 1988 Convention (see annex III). 

Seizures of all of the substances in Tables I and II, with the exception of isosafrole and piperonal, both substances used in the illicit manufacture of MDMA (Ecstasy), have been reported for 2003 by 43 Governments, and seizures of 65 non-controlled chemicals have been reported by 22 Governments. As the information relating to non-controlled substances is essential to the revision of the adequacy and propriety of the current lists of substances in Tables I and II of the 1988 Convention, as well as to the maintenance of the limited international special surveillance list of non-scheduled substances, the Board encourages Governments to ensure that mechanisms are in place to record information on all chemicals found to be used in the illicit manufacture of drugs and not only those scheduled under the 1988 Convention. 

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