Substances used in the illicit manufacture of heroin acetic anhydride

Substances used in the illicit manufacture of heroin acetic anhydride 

During the period from 1 November 2004 to 31 October 2005, the authorities of 14 exporting countries provided over 1,300 pre-export notifications for shipments of acetic anhydride, in accordance with the standard operating procedures of Operation Topaz. Those consignments were destined for 48 importing countries and/or territories and the total amount of acetic anhydride involved was 331,000 tons. 

Patterns in international trade observed during the course of the Operation have remained stable and any variances in patterns were followed up on and legitimate reasons were found to exist. 

Through the information provided on the preexport notifications, the Board was able to map patterns in international trade and identified the focal points for such trade in terms of both the volume and the number of shipments. Furthermore, trans-shipment countries that play a major role in the licit trade of acetic anhydride, such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Singapore, were identified. As with potassium permanganate, the involvement of brokers makes physical tracking of the substance difficult as it is rarely shipped directly from the manufacturing country to the consumer country. 

Action by the Board has resulted in the identification of six shipments, amounting to 556 tons, that were to be sent to four countries and were stopped. Furthermore, during 2004, 18 countries reported to the Board on form D that they had seized over 79 tons of acetic anhydride and 9 countries provided reports through Operation Topaz on 36 individual seizures. 

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