......Until recently, little open-source information was available about illicit trafficking networks for CW precursors. In 2005, however, the trial in the Netherlands of Frans van Anraat, a Dutch businessman who had served as a middleman for Iraq’s procurement of precursors for mustard gas and nerve agents during the Iran-Iraq War, led to the public release of court documents revealing new details about chemical trafficking operations. Additional insights were provided by the related case of Peter Walaschek, a German middleman who arranged shipments of CW precursors to Iran. Th is study reconstructs the two cases by drawing on information from a variety of sources, including indictments, oral arguments, and exhibits from the United States and the Netherlands; interviews with the key individuals involved in the U.S. and Dutch investigations; and contemporaneous media reports.
Although the Van Anraat and Walaschek cases are more than two decades old, the insights they provide are still relevant today because methods of illicit traffi cking have not changed fundamentally in the intervening period. In addition to providing a detailed historical narrative of the cases, this paper describes the current U.S. system of dual-use export controls, indicates how it has changed since the 1980s, and identifies continuing gaps and weaknesses. Th e paper concludes with some recommendations to prevent the future trafficking of CW precursors.....
Trafficking Networks for Chemical Weapons Precursors
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