Global customs and police operation nets large seizures of bomb-making material
WORLD Customs Organization (WCO) Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud Algirdas Šemeta applauded the stunning results of a global operation to stop the trade in bomb-making material.
First proposed to the WCO by DHS as Project Global Shield, in March 2011 the WCO endorsed a proposal for the project to become a long-term programme, enabling customs and the police to continue multilateral efforts to combat the illicit trafficking and diversion of precursor chemicals. The Programme is fully supported by INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); strategic international partners in the fight to stop this form of crime.
“Effective use of risk management by customs and law enforcement officials has enabled countless lives to be saved and costly disruptions to world trade to be avoided,” said Secretary General Mikuriya. “The results of Global Shield are clear proof of the value of international collaboration which is a powerful tool in our efforts to protect the global supply chain, combat illicit trade and ensure the safety of society.”
Currently more than 70 countries are participating, which to date has resulted in numerous seizures. This is the first time that participating WCO Members have joined forces to keep bomb-making chemicals out of the hands of organizations involved in terror and other transnational organized crime.
Participants provided information on the movement of just over 2 billion kilograms of 14 high-risk precursor chemicals: Acetic Anhydride, Acetone, Aluminum Powder, Ammonium Nitrate, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, Hydrogen Peroxide, Nitric Acid, Nitromethane, Potassium Chlorate, Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Perchlorate, Sodium Chlorate, Sodium Nitrate and Urea.