Vienna – New York: Europe and the Arabs

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said an international early warning system thwarted a shipment of chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, which could have produced up to 1.6 billion doses of the deadly drug.

In its 2025 annual report, the INCB stated that authorities used its Advance Export Notification platform to prevent the diversion of three tons of the precursor 1-POC-4-piperidone, an intermediate chemical used in the manufacture of fentanyl. According to the UN News, a copy of which we received, the report explained that if the shipment had not been intercepted, it could have been used to manufacture between 1.4 and 3.3 tons of fentanyl, equivalent to between 700 million and 1.6 billion doses of the deadly drug.

This incident, which occurred in March 2025, is one of several examples cited by the INCB to illustrate what it described as an “international success story” in cooperation. “Drug trafficking and abuse, along with ensuring the availability of essential medicines, have been effectively combated over the past 60 years through the International Narcotics Control Conventions, which provide a robust framework for joint action with near-universal support,” said Commission Chair Sevil Atasoy.

“Our role is to strengthen cooperation efforts between countries and regions through our work,” she added.

A Cooperative System
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent, quasi-judicial body mandated to monitor the implementation of the three international drug control conventions—adopted in 1961, 1971, and 1988—which form the cornerstone of the global drug control regime.

Under these conventions, governments provide the INCB with estimates and statistical reports on the cultivation, manufacture, and trafficking of controlled substances, with the aim of ensuring their availability only for medical and scientific purposes.

According to the report, the effectiveness of this system has helped keep the diversion of legally produced drugs to illicit markets “very low,” while the diversion of psychoactive substances—such as heroin and other opioids—to those markets has been “virtually halted.” In 2025 alone, more than 190 countries and territories collaborated through the Electronic Pre-Export Notification Platform to monitor over 34,000 planned shipments of internationally controlled drug precursors.

The 13 members of the Commission are elected by the United Nations Economic and Social Council for five-year terms. Headquartered in Vienna, the Commission receives support from a secretariat of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Smuggling Networks Adapting Rapidly
Despite this cooperation, the Commission warned that smuggling networks are adapting rapidly. Cocaine trafficking remains the fastest-growing illicit drug market, and increased production in South America is driving expansion into Asia and Africa.

According to the Commission's report, in Europe, cocaine smuggling into Western and Central Europe has increased significantly, while the production of illicit synthetic drugs continues to expand. In North America, deaths from synthetic drug overdoses fell by 17% in Canada and 27% in the United States, but the council cautioned that it was too early to assess whether this decline would become a sustainable trend.

The council reported that in Africa, trafficking in pharmaceutical opioids, including substandard products, is the most serious drug-related problem, while South Asia accounts for one-third of the world's opioid users.

It added that methamphetamine remains the most significant synthetic drug threat in East and Southeast Asia, with record numbers of seizures.

Inequalities in Access to Pain Relief

Despite stable global supplies of opioid painkillers, the council highlighted persistent inequalities in access to pain relief, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

It added that many countries continue to report difficulties in accessing morphine-containing medicines, and that improving the availability and affordability of these medicines remains a top priority. The head of the agency said: "Protecting the health of people around the world from the dangers of illicit drugs is a shared responsibility," adding that "the international drug control system depends on the willingness and ability of countries to work together."