Illegal imports??

Quick question for ya.

Can someone please explain to me why people import the illegal chemicals needed to produce pills instead of the pills them selfs? If you have the money and connections to import illegal shit, why would you go through the trouble of getting those chemicals past customs and then the added trouble of setting up a lab to produce the pills. Why wouldnt you just import the pills fully pressed? Wouldnt that make so much more sense? Obviously i understand it may be cheaper to make them from scrach. But come on how much extra risk would that be?

obviously enough extra risk to make it worthwhile. If people are doing this then it must be worth the risk, the people that make the pills would consider all these things before taking the risks.

well if they are buyin already pressed pills or pure mdma they are loosing out in profit by having to pay someone else todo the pressing or synthesizing.

also the security of knowing what is going into their pills might be another factor. when they import i doubt very much they have any idea of the content of the pills.

yeh for all they no they cood test a couple of legit ones and the rest cood b k or speed or all binders

maybe coz if they are a manufacturer not a dearer, they use chenmicals to make the drug....

if they are a manufacturer, then why would they be importing fully finished pills?

In terms of legal risk as well it is going to be a LOT trickier to prosecute when somebody is bringing in key ingredients in mdma synthesis separately and with a potentially legitimate reason (I have no idea what the ingredients are I just would imagine they can be used for other stuff too).

alotta stuff u can buy in stores and chemical supply stores. and then saffrole oil and stuff. say if u were a chemistry school lab tech who was allowed to order the stuff personally. and married to someone who owned a massage parlour. ahhahaa pretty far fetchd but yeah

^ Safrole and most other "specialty" chemicals used to make MDMA are closely monitored in Australia under the Chemical Diversion Code of Practice and as safrole is listed as a carcinogen, I doubt you'd find it in many massage clinics or aromatherapy shops any more.

But in some countries (eg China) these chemicals can be freely purchased. So, besides the profit difference in buying ready made tablets/powder, it comes down to ease of availability and ease of transport. However, getting them into a country like Australia is a different matter altogether.

This is why great effort is often made to conceal these chems as they enter the country. Customs are aware of them, and can test for them just as easily as they can for MDMA. But precursor chems like MDP2P (and freebase MDMA for that matter) can be 'hidden' by dissolving in solvents, making detection a bit more difficult. While customs have very sophisticated detection equipment, at present it would still be extremely difficult (I'd guess; logistically impossible) to inspect every drum that enters the country that contains a suitable liquid hydrocarbon or other solvent.

So, while profits for crime bosses are potentially higher by importing chems, concealment is still required. However, as time goes on and detection methods improve, there will be less hope of safe delivery. When it ceases to be statistically/ economically viable to import, producers will, in all likelihood, first source via local, non-related industries before eventually turning to sourcing starting materials from local raw materials.

Initially, I believe many starting materials will be sourced via other industries that use them. I have a colleague who works in a non-drug related and completely legit business, but it's quite amazing what chemicals he uses in his everyday work. I won't go into the work he does, but I will say that he has mentioned the increase in inquiries he gets related to some of these chemicals. Not being a drug user, he's still acquainting himself with what some of these chemicals are used for in drug manufacturing. Needless to say more stuff is stored in the safe these days. Although he doesn't sell anything to anyone he even remotely suspects of being involved in drug related activities, at present he is under no obligation to report suspicious inquiries to authorities (via EUD's - see above link).

But that day will come for sure. Then, we are likely to see crime bosses turn to relying more on the local, 'easy' to obtain products. Ingredients such as safrole will come from native flora or xenotype species, and the other chems will be purchased through chemical suppliers by legit businesses or individuals, as depending upon routes chosen, nothing suspicious would need to be ordered. The downfall is the time and steps involved, but IMO, once a setup was in operation, like most production line industries, these disadvantages would easily be offset by the continual availability of a cheap product. Such clandestine setups no doubt already exist. One advantage a proper setup would have, is that it could easily be 'adjusted' to produce a new designer drug if MDMA ever becomes 'old hat'.

While an optimized local clandestine setup and network may prove to authorities to be difficult to locate, the real dangers are to end users, as the extra steps required will invariably mean there will be more contaminants present in an end product.