Customs seizes 21 tons of chemical used in IEDs

Container full of acetic anhydride brought from Tanzania confiscated

KARACHI: Customs authorities have seized a container in Karachi with over 21 metric tons of acetic anhydride – a major component of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The chemical compound is also used in purifying heroin.

On January 9, the port control unit of Pakistan Customs seized 21.7 metric tons of acetic anhydride in a 20-foot container, which had arrived from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The amount of the contraband confiscated is said to be worth more than Rs860 million.





Pakistan Customs officials said on Tuesday the shipment had been declared to contain acetic acid glacial. But the port control unit was tipped off about the container, which arrived at Port Qasim in November 2015. The law enforcers profiled the shipment and shifted it to the NLC’s container terminal in Karachi.

The “largest-ever” recovery of acetic anhydride was declared at a press conference on Tuesday.



“This is by far the biggest quantity of acetic anhydride seized anywhere in the world,” announced Customs Preventive Deputy Collector Moazzam Raza.

The consignment raised a red flag as Tanzania is not a traditional producer of acetic acid. The buyer of the shipment is in Sialkot.

Because of its use in the synthesis of heroin, acetic anhydride’s (C4H6O3) movement is restricted in many countries. However, the compound is largely used in the manufacture of fibres, plastics, pharmaceuticals and dyes.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2016.