Reactive resistance: where are drug precursors being transported to Russia from
Vyborg customs officers have detained a record shipment of contraband alpha-bromocalerophenone, used as a precursor for the production of synthetic drugs. This substance is legally used in pharmaceuticals and perfumes. Experts told Izvestia how the chemical gets to criminals.
A river is flowing
An underground laboratory in the Leningrad region, which was producing synthetic drugs on an industrial scale, was liquidated by customs officers and the police. The special services received information through operational channels that 10 barrels of pale pink liquid weighing about 2 tons arrived at warehouses in St. Petersburg from Central Asia.
"After tracking one of the recipients of the goods, the operatives identified two more organizers of the smuggling. All three planned to manufacture drugs in two specially equipped basements under garages, and then sell them through bookmarks throughout the region," the FCS said in a statement. During the searches, chemical synthesis equipment was found.
In February of this year, the drug police uncovered another criminal community organized in Russia by Latvian citizens. During the investigation, a laboratory for the production of mephedrone in the Tver region and a warehouse in Sergiev Posad were liquidated. In the Moscow region, 96 kg of 2-bromo-1-phenylpental-1-one (α-bromvalerophenone) was seized during operational activities.
"It is known that the group was formed in 2023, three people were detained, but many more people participated in the business,— the source explained to Izvestia. — In a village in the Zubtsovsky district of the Tver region, one of the accomplices purchased a private house for a lab.
Dual-use liquids
— This chemical compound (α-bromvalerophenone. — Ed.) in a liquid state can be used in the pharmaceutical industry for the production of medicines (for example, antidepressants), in the perfume industry as a component of some flavors, in the production of polymers," Alexander Ostroushko, chief researcher at the UrFU Department of Chemical Materials Science, explained to Izvestia. — It can also be used to produce substances that slow down chemical reactions (inhibitors). But at the same time, the turnover of this compound is under close control, since it can be used as a starting material, or a precursor, in the synthesis of narcotic drugs.
He clarified that α-bromvalerophenone is included in the list of substances whose turnover in the Russian Federation is limited and for which control measures are being established in accordance with legislation.
"This substance has a noticeable irritating effect on the skin, eyes, and respiratory organs," the expert added. — With prolonged exposure, damage to the liver, kidneys and other internal organs is possible.
Expert opinion
— Why are these laboratories developing with terrible force? Almost every village has its own production facility. Yes, because major players have their own flows of precursors that are not accounted for anywhere. These volumes take place as a drain and shrinkage on enterprises and warehouses," Sergei Pelikh, a former investigator and expert on international organized crime and drug trafficking, told Izvestia.
According to the expert, organized crime has long taken control of warehouses where chemicals legally purchased for pharmaceuticals and perfumes are stored.
—And it's not just about alpha-bromocalerophenone, but also about other substances widely used in industry," says Pelich. — The fight against precursor traffic should have been given more attention much earlier. Access to precursors has given criminals the opportunity to create a kind of franchise for the organization of laboratories in almost all regions of the country.
Drug stores recruit people who want to synthesize drugs, supply equipment to the "brewers" themselves, give money to rent the site, and provide the necessary chemicals and precursors.
— With this scheme, the finished drug itself, as a rule, does not cross the border, each country has its own laboratories. For example, the same Burkin (the alleged head of the Ukrainian drug cartel Khimprom. It was possible to establish laboratory networks in Poland, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine.
Pelich considers the merging of security services of industrial enterprises and drug dealers to be one of the problems.
— There is often a situation when the drug market, through controlled companies, tries to buy out excess precursors from legal players. When the companies realize what's going on and try to get out of the game, the criminals blackmail them by threatening to contact the police. They say the security forces will find out that you have previously sold drug precursors. And it works — in order to avoid problems, the business continues to cooperate with the drug mafia.
International control
A special report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is devoted to the problem of precursors. One of the prevention tools is the PEN Online system developed by the organization's experts back in 2005, which allows online exchange of information between national regulators on the planned export of internationally controlled precursor substances. Such monitoring allows you to pick up a suspicious delivery. However, not all countries are ready for transparency in trade in potentially dangerous chemicals.
The INCB gives Myanmar the first place in the production of methamphetamine in the world. "Seizures of methamphetamine and ketamine have reached unprecedented levels," the 2024 report said. According to the Izvestia source, this is due to the proximity to the world centers of production of precursors of this type of drugs — India and China.
Another international Internet platform developed by the INCB to improve links between drug police in different countries is the PICS system. The platform allows you to exchange information about incidents related to suspicious shipments, and provides access to the contacts of the authors of the messages. The current report states that in 2023 and 2024, Russia transmitted reports of significant seizures of chemicals through PICS and provided operationally relevant information. "In particular, about the labeling and routes of illicit trafficking, as well as about the repeated cases of Kazakhstan being used as a transit country. INCB is also aware of the clandestine manufacture of synthetic cathinones in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries, as well as seizures of related precursors, although their type is not usually indicated in reports," the INCB report for 2024 says.
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