Precursor Control
An additional dimension to the drug trafficking situation in Afghanistan is the trafficking of chemicals needed for the chemical process to convert opium into heroin.
Over 12,000 tonnes of various precursor chemicals, including approximately 1,500 tonnes of acetic anhydride, are required annually in Afghanistan for the illicit manufacture of heroin. As Afghanistan has no legal requirement for many of these substances they are not imported legally into the country. Traffickers are therefore forced to procure the chemicals in countries outside of the region and then smuggle them into Afghanistan. Such illicit consignment are usually concealed within legal trade goods, and smuggled through legal border crossing points. Recent successes have been achieved in Iran, Pakistan and Uzbekistan in identifying and intercepting such illicit consignments but in general Border Police and Customs authorities currently in the entire region lack the specialized skills needed to conduct this work.
Key roles of UNODC in precursor control:
- Establishment of a dedicated Precursor Control Unit (PCU) within CNPA.
- Facilitate and support Afghanistan's participation in regional precursor control operations such as Operation TARCET
- Introduce a focus on backtracking investigations starting in Afghanistan in order to identify the point of diversion and prosecute those responsible
- Support CNPA's PCU with basic through advanced training, including intelligence analysis and the use of relevant software.
- Mentor the PCU in intelligence and data analysis.
- Support PCU mobility, including provincial deployments.
- Incorporate precursor control training into UNODC's ABP project.
- Support the Drug Regulation Committee through training, basic equipment and facilitating its connections to national stakeholders.
Current Project
