The UN narcotics control body, INCB, says a shipment of chemicals used to make fentanyl that could have produced up to 1.6 billion potentially lethal doses has been blocked.
The International Narcotics Control Board, which disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, added that an international early warning system intercepted the shipment.
It said the interception highlighted the vital role of cooperation in tackling the rapidly evolving illegal drugs trade.
INCB is an independent, quasi-judicial body established under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
In its 2025 Annual Report, INCB said that authorities used its pre-export notification platform to stop the diversion of three tons of the precursor 1-boc-4-piperidone – a chemical intermediary used in the manufacture of fentanyl – between 700 million and 1.6 billion doses of the deadly street drug.
The case in March 2025 is one of several examples cited by the INCB to illustrate what it dubs an “international success story” in terms of cooperation.
“Tackling the trafficking and misuse of drugs, while ensuring the availability of essential medicines, has been carried out effectively over the last 60 years through the drug control conventions, a robust framework for working together with almost universal support.
“Our role is to reinforce the cooperative efforts of countries and territories through our work,” Board President, Professor Sevil Atasoy, said.
The INCB is an independent, quasi-judicial body mandated to monitor 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, to ensure their availability for medical and scientific purposes only.
According to the report, the efficiency of this system has kept the diversion of legitimately produced narcotic drugs into illicit markets “very low”, while diversion of psychotropic substances – such as heroin and other opioids – has “virtually stopped.”
In 2025 alone, more than 190 countries and territories cooperated through the online pre-export notification (PEN) platform, monitoring over 34,000 planned shipments of internationally controlled drug precursors.
INCB monitors national compliance with the three international drug control conventions (1961, 1971, and 1988), overseeing the global system that regulates narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific use while preventing diversion into illicit markets.
Its 13 members are elected by the UN Economic and Social Council for five-year terms. The Board is headquartered in Vienna and is supported by a secretariat linked to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Despite such cooperation, the Board warns that trafficking networks are adapting rapidly.
Cocaine trafficking remains the fastest-growing illicit drug market, with increased production in South America driving expansion into Asia and Africa.
In Europe, cocaine trafficking to Western and Central Europe has “dramatically increased,” while the illicit manufacture of synthetic drugs continues to expand.
In North America, synthetic drug overdoses decreased by 17 per cent in Canada and 27 per cent in the United States, but the Board cautioned that it is “too early to assess whether the decrease will develop into a sustained trend.”
In Africa, trafficking in pharmaceutical opioids – including substandard products – is described as the drug-related issue of greatest concern, while the South Asian region accounts for one third of the world’s estimated opioid users.
Methamphetamine remains the dominant synthetic drug threat in East and Southeast Asia, with record seizures reported.
Even as the global supply of opioid painkillers remains stable, the Board highlighted persistent inequalities in access to pain relief medicines, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Many countries continue to report difficulties in procuring medications containing morphine, and increasing the availability and affordability of psychotropic substances remains a priority.
“Protecting the health of people around the world from the dangers of illicit drugs is a common and shared responsibility,” Atasoy said.
“The international drug control system relies on the willingness and capacity of countries to work together.”
