Investigators must quickly hunt down the importers and link all the dots
KARACHI: The discovery and seizure of over 15,000 litres of acetic anhydride, a key ingredient in making explosive material and heroin preparation, at Port Qasim on January 24th should send alarm bells ringing across the country. The shipment originally listed as a summer liquid was sent from Poland and was destined for Peshawar dry port.
Investigators must quickly hunt down the importers and link all the dots that will probably lead to the door of the merchants of destruction and terrorist outfits for whom the deadly cargo is imported.
This is the kind of breakthrough that can help eliminate terrorism from the country. Acetic anhydride is a highly sensitive dual-use chemical which is the main ingredient for manufacturing highly-explosive devices as well as for preparing narcotics substances, especially heroin.
In the first place such imports are highly restricted and are usually imported by designated industrial consumers after proper government controls. This shows that proper vigilance by officials can save hundreds of thousands of lives.
Mubashar Arif
Published in The Express Tribune, February 5th, 2018.
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