The interception highlights the crucial role of cooperation in dealing with the rapidly developing illegal drug trade.
In its 2025 annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said authorities used its pre-export notification platform to stop the diversion of three tonnes of the precursor 1-boc-4-piperidone – a chemical intermediate used to make fentanyl.
Had the shipment not been intercepted, it could have been used to manufacture an estimated 1.4 to 3.3 tons of fentanyl – between 700 million and 1.6 billion doses of the deadly street drug.
The March 2025 case is one of several examples cited by the INCB to illustrate what it calls an “international success story” in terms of cooperation.
“Tackling drug trafficking and abuse, while ensuring the availability of essential medicines, has been done effectively over the past 60 years through the Drug Control Conventions, a robust framework for cooperation with near-universal support,” said Board Chair Professor Sevil Atasoy.
“Our role is to strengthen cooperation between countries and territories through our work.”
A system built on cooperation
The 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 backbone of the global drug control system.
Under these treaties, governments provide it with estimates and statistical reports to monitor the cultivation, manufacture and trade of controlled substances with the aim of ensuring their availability for medical and scientific purposes only.
According to the report, the effectiveness of this system has kept the diversion of legally manufactured narcotics into illegal markets”very low“, while the diversion of psychotropic drugs – such as heroin and other opioids – has “almost stopped.”
In 2025 alone, more than 190 countries and territories cooperated through the online pre-export notification (PEN) platform and monitored over 34,000 planned shipments of internationally controlled drug precursors.
Packages of cocaine seized by the authorities in Ecuador. (file image)
What is INCB?
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent, quasi-judicial body established under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
It monitors national compliance with the three international drug control conventions (1961, 1971 and 1988), and monitors the global system that regulates narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific use, while preventing diversion to illicit markets.
Its 13 members are elected by the UN’s Economic and Social Council for five-year terms. The board is headquartered in Vienna and is supported by a secretariat attached to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Read more about the board here.
New threats, changing markets
Despite such cooperation, the board warns about it trafficking networks adapt quickly.
Cocaine trafficking remains the fastest growing market for illegal drugswith increased production in South America driving expansion into Asia and Africa.
In Europe, Cocaine trafficking to Western and Central Europe has “increased dramatically” while the illegal manufacture of synthetic drugs continues to grow.
In North America, Synthetic drug overdoses fell by 17 percent in Canada and 27 percent in the United Statesbut the board cautioned that it is “too early to assess whether the decline will develop into a sustained trend.”
In Africa, the trade in pharmaceutical opioids – including substandard products – is described as the drug-related problem of greatest concern, while The South Asian region accounts for a third of the world’s estimated opioid users.
Methamphetamine remains the dominant synthetic drug threat in East and Southeast Asiawith record seizures reported.
Access uneven
Although the global supply of opioid painkillers remains stable, the board highlighted persistent inequality in access to painkillers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Many countries continue to report difficulties in obtaining medicines containing morphine, and increasing the availability and affordability of psychotropic drugs remains a priority.
“Protecting human health worldwide from the dangers of illegal drugs is a common and shared responsibility,” said Professor Atasoy.
“The international drug control system depends on the willingness and capacity of countries to work together.“
