KARACHI: Customs authorities last week seized a container loaded with a large quantity of acetic anhydride — a chemical used in heroin production and manufacture of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

The chemical, worth over Rs860 million, was seized from a container originating from Tanzania and destined for Sialkot.

The port control unit of Model Customs Collectorate (Preventive), acting on the basis of a tip-off, seized the container that had initially arrived at Port Qasim in November last year. Later the container, loaded with 21.7 metric tonnes of acetic anhydride, was shifted to the NLC container terminal on Mai Kolachi Road.

The consignment had been mis-declared as ‘acetic acid glacial’. On inspection, however, the authorities had found that it contained ‘acetic anhydride’, which is used as a precursor in the production of heroin and is also one of the key chemicals used in the manufacture of IEDs, according to sources in the Customs.

Among the several factors that raised suspicions about the container was that Tanzania is not known to be a producer of acetic acid.

The actual purpose of importing the acetic anhydride, however, is yet to be ascertained.

Pakistan Customs is a participant of the ‘UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme’ and also a partner of the World Customs Organisation’s ‘Programme Global Shield’.

A Customs official praised the officers concerned for the “record seizure”. He expressed hope that the seizure would not only save the world from the menace of narcotics, but also save Pakistan from the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2016