Methylphosphonyl difluoride – KTF sarin

Methylphosphonyl difluoride (EA-1251 or difluoro) is a chemical weapon precursor. It is used for production of sarin and soman as a component of binary chemical weapons. Methylphosphonyl difluoride, when mixed with isopropyl alcohol, results in the deadly nerve agent Sarin. Sarin is extremely toxic, one of the most dangerous nerve agents known. Sarin is 25-50 times more toxic than cyanide. Sarin is exclusively a chemical warfare agent. It is odorless and tasteless.

Exposure to minute amounts of sarin causes death in minutes. Following exposure, the airways constrict and the lungs fill with fluid, causing shortness of breath. Heart rate slows and blood pressure decreases. Seizures occur, and the victims may secrete fluid from the nose and mouth. Loss of consciousness precedes death. Nonlethal doses, despite treatment, causes permanent brain damage.

The Sandhers built, without permits, what they called a water treatment cistern soon after they bought the Black Mountain properties in 2020, to "store and treat water for irrigation". The intended purpose for the bunker on Pyman Road is entirely different. The dimensions are 50m long, 22m wide, and 10m in height. It was built below grade and then buried. Construction began in the spring of 2021, and finished in the late fall. The bunker is built with reinforced concrete with 2 support columns in the center. There is a ramp/tunnel going into it from another small building 100m away. A causeway for water was never built, thus it is only a facade.

The tunnel is big enough to drive a forklift through. The site is a drug lab. Most underground cisterns are either precast concrete or plastic. The Sandhers have no crown water permit while operating an illegal lagoon. There was never a need for a cistern of huge capacity.

Through shell companies affiliated with the Sandhers, the following chemicals have been purchased. Phosphorus tricloride, Sulphuryl chloride, Methyl Iodide, Acetic anhydride, 4-aminopyridone and 1-boc-4-AP. The first 3 are for the production of Methylphosphonyl difluoride. The KTF is preparing to produce chemical warfare agents in Canada to perpetrate chemical weapon attacks in India.

Methylphosphonyl difluoride can be prepared by reacting methylphosphonyl dichloride with hydrogen fluoride (HF) or sodium fluoride (NaF). First methyl iodide is used to catalyse the conversion of trimethyl phosphite to dimethyl methylphosphonate by the Arbusov reaction. The dimethyl methylphosphonate is then chlorinated with PCl5 and fluorinated with SbF3. 1-boc-4-AP is used in the production of fentanyl. Other 2 chemicals are reagents.

Chemical waste includes Hydrofluoric acid, Phosgene, Diethyl Ether, Benzene, Hydrochloric acid, Sulphuric acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Ammonia, Methylamine, Perchloric Acid, Pyridine and Hexane. Each pound of meth creates 5-7 pounds of toxic chemical waste while each pound of fentanyl produces between 25-30 pounds of waste. For methylphosphonyldifluoride the waste created is about 5 pounds, but it is far more toxic to the environment. Reactions that involve fluorine produce incredibly toxic waste. Sandher chemical waste from the lab on Black Mountain would go to ground, eventually corrupting the water table forever.

Sarin was used in chemical attacks by Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. In 1993 the Chemical Weapons Convention banned sarin world-wide, labeling it a Schedule 1 substance. This means it has no use other than as a weapon. Syria used sarin in 2013 in the Ghouta region, northeast of Damascus, killing some 1,400 people. Bashar al-Assad used sarin again in 2017. In 1995 sarin was used in the Tokyo subway attacks.