Network involved in illegal trade of ammonium nitrate will face trial

A cross-provincial network involved in the illegal trade of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make explosives, has been busted, according to prosecutors of Jinshan District.

The network came under the spotlight in September last year when Jinshan police raided a local agricultural company and found ammonium nitrate, which is used as fertilizer in the agriculture industry, but is also the main component in explosives. 

Its trade and transportation are strictly controlled in China, and the company was not licensed to buy and use the compound.

Based on clues offered by the company, police tracked down the supplier, a factory making regent and plastics in Taishan City, Guangdong Province. Without a production license, the factory produced large amounts of ammonium nitrate, prosecutors said.

The Taishan factory sold 825,000-yuan (US$130,596) worth of ammonium nitrate to a technology company based in Beijing, which later sold some of the compound to the Jinshan company, pocketing 700,000 yuan, prosecutors said.

Four suspects will go on trial and, if convicted, will face jail terms of up to five years.