Precursor Chemical Trafficking

The illegal diversion, trade or trafficking of a chemical substance that, while often having legitimate industrial, pharmaceutical or agricultural uses, is also a necessary ingredient in the illicit manufacture of a controlled drug, such as acetic anhydride, used in the manufacture of heroin, or pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. It is regulated internationally under the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988, which obligates signatory states to monitor and control the trade of a defined list of precursor chemicals, and enforcement typically focuses on identifying an unusually large or otherwise suspicious order or shipment of a legitimately produced chemical that is being diverted toward an illicit drug manufacturing operation rather than its stated legitimate end use.