Analysis of cocaine and its adulterants in drugs for international trafficking seized by the Brazilian Federal Police

Lapachinske, Silvio Fernandes; Okai, Guilherme Gonçalves; Santos, Ariana dos; Bairros, André Valle de; Yonamine, Maurı́cio

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.11.028

Cited by 71 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Among them, the alkaloid profiling method has gained most wide application. [20] The most commonly used assay methods for cocaine alkaloids include gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionization detector (FID), [4,13] electron capture detector (ECD), [21] nitrogen phosphorous detector (NPD), [9] and mass spectrometry (MS) [3,8] ; high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) [22,23] and capillary electrophoresis (CE) [24] with a diode array detector (DAD) [22] or photodiode array detector (PDA). [6,7] More than 70 types of cocaine-related alkaloids have been detected up to now.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Liu

Hua

Meng

2016

Drug Testing and Analysis

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For the first time in China, the chemical profiling of cocaine specimens was performed at the National Narcotics Laboratory. An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of 14 cocaine alkaloids and 5 main adulterants. Among them, ecgonine methyl ester, ecgonine, benzoylecgonine, and norcocaine were identified by comparing with the standard materials; tropacocaine, 3,4,5-trimethoxycocaine, cis-/trans-cinnamoylcocaine were tentatively identified based on the exact masses of protonated molecules and product ions; six unidentified alkaloids of 182/1.47, 316/9.54, 659/9.85, 316/9.87, 420/10.34, and 420/10.85 were marked with 'extracted mass/retention time' for convenience. Minimum sample preparation and analysis time were required, which was suitable for routine analysis. Based on the semi-quantitative data set of 14 alkaloid impurities in 131 linked/unlinked cocaine samples, 50 combinations of pretreatment methods and distance/correlation measurements were tested for their potential discrimination power for cocaine profiling, and Logarithm/Pearson exhibited the best result. After hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), 183 cocaine samples collected from 2011 to 2015 were classified into 7 major groups. Moreover, 37 groups of linked samples were found within and between provinces, which provide intelligence for the case connection and revealing of the distribution networks. Our results highlighted the practical utilities of drug profiling, especially to support the investigation through operational intelligence and to improve the knowledge related to the drug trafficking through strategic intelligence. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Liu

Hua

Meng

2016

Drug Testing and Analysis

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“…This notion is supported by a recent report from Brazilian authorities who found that levamisole, in concentrations ranging from 0.7 to 23 percent, was the most abundant adulterant found in cocaine intended for shipment out of country (20). Why the drug trade should have adopted levamisole remains a mystery, but some think the purpose is to enhance the effects of the cocaine (21).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Levamisole, Aminorex, and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Review

Karch¹,

Vaiano²,

Bertol³

2015

Razavi Int J Med

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Context: An epidemic of aminorex-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), resulting in multiple fatalities, occurred in the 1970s ending only after the drug was removed from the market. In 2009, when it was found that horses de-wormed with the anthelmintic levamisole, metabolized that drug to aminorex, the same drug that caused the 1970s outbreak of PAH. The discovery would not have been cause for concern except to horseracing enthusiasts, who feared horse doping. However, at about the same time the relationship between levamisole and aminorex was discovered, cocaine cartels began adulterating cocaine with levamisole. The rationale for adulterating cocaine with levamisole remains to be established. The purpose of this short review article is to discuss possible reasons for levamisole contamination, new discoveries about the human pharmacokinetics of aminorex, and the possible relationship between aminorex and pulmonary arterial hypertension in man. Evidence acquisition: Medline contents, as well as estimates published by the U.S. drug enforcement agency (DEA), US state department, and the European monitoring center for drugs and drug abuse (EMCDDA) were reviewed and relevant articles retrieved. There is uniform agreement among the various monitoring agencies analyzed.Results: Approximately 70 percent of the U.S. cocaine supply and 40 percent of the European cocaine supply is contaminated with levamisole. Aminorex has the same binding affinities for serotonin and other neurotransmitters as amphetamine. As serotonin is considered to be an important factor in the development of PAH, the possibility of another epidemic of aminorex-induced PAH, this time among cocaine abusers, seems real, and threatening. Conclusions:The results of the first human pharmacokinetic studies of aminorex were first characterized in 2013. The results suggest that while humans could produce aminorex from levamisole, they probably do not convert very much. Even though cases of PAH have been reported in cocaine users, the latest pharmacokinetic studies suggest that very little aminorex is actually produced from the ingested levamisole, probably not enough to cause PAH. However, since both cocaine and aminorex can cause PAH the situation remains unclear. the lack of a clear answer is partially the development of an insidious pulmonary hypertension, producing subtle and non-specific symptoms in its early stages.

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“…Vale ressaltar que esse medicamento também reage com um dos testes mais empregados no mundo para triagem da cocaína, o tiocianato de cobalto, desenvolvendo também uma coloração azul, conforme é visualizado na Figura 3. Esse resultado tem grande impacto nos testes preliminares de constatação da cocaína, uma vez que grande parte da cocaína comercializada no Brasil tem sido adulterada com essa substância [22][23].…”

Section: Cocaínaunclassified

Avaliação da técnica de imunocromatografia para análise de drogas de abuso no contexto da química forense

Pinto¹,

Freitas²,

Machado³

et al. 2015

Rev. Bras. Crimin.

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ResumoO uso abusivo de drogas é um problema de saúde pública mundial que leva a graves consequências sociais e principalmente na saúde dos usuários. A prevalência da utilização de drogas pela população em geral vem aumentando consideravelmente. Deste modo, as análises químicas em drogas de abuso apresentam importância crucial para materialização do delito. A imunocromatografia é uma técnica de triagem, rápida, de fácil execução, dispensa o uso de reagentes adicionais, equipamentos e técnicos especializados, sendo bastante utilizada para a detecção de drogas em fluidos biológicos, mas carece de estudos para sua utilização em análises de drogas apreendidas. Sendo assim, o presente estudo aborda os aspectos analíticos da técnica de imunocromatografia, avaliando a eficiência desta técnica para a análise de drogas de abuso no contexto da química forense. Para o presente estudo as amostras sugestivas de maconha, cocaína e ecstasy (MDMA) apreendidas pela Polícia Civil de Minas Gerais foram analisadas por imunocromatografia e comparadas com outras técnicas como testes colorimétricos e análises instrumentais (FT-IR, GC-MS e LC-MS/MS). Parâmetros como taxas de falsos resultados, sensibilidade, seletividade e confiabilidade foram calculados utilizando tabelas de contingência. A imunocromatografia apresentou em média taxas de sensibilidade e seletividade de 94% e 75%, respectivamente. A menor confiabilidade constatada para análise de comprimidos de ecstasy deve-se principalmente ao grande número de resultados falsopositivos para MDMA, uma vez que essa técnica é pouco seletiva para essa substância, detectando diversas outras substâncias análogas. Portanto, a imunocromatografia se mostrou eficiente para a triagem de drogas apreendidas, uma vez que apresentou adequada sensibilidade e seletividade para drogas como maconha e cocaína e possibilidade de detectar outras drogas sintéticas além do ecstasy, as quais possivelmente não seriam detectadas pelos testes colorimétricos rotineiramente empregados pelos Peritos Criminais de campo.Palavras-Chave: Imunocromatografia; Drogas de Abuso; Química Forense. AbstractThe drug abuse is a global public health problem that leads to serious social consequences and specially the health of users. The prevalence of drug use by the population in general has increased considerably. Therefore, chemical analyses on drug abuse have crucial importance as crime evidence. The immunochromatography is a screening technique, which is fast, easy to perform, does not require the use of additional reagents, specialized equipment or technicians, and is widely used for drug detection in biological fluids, but lacks studies to be used in seized drug analysis. Thus, the present study focuses on the analytical aspects of the immunochromatography technique, evaluating the efficiency of this technique for the analysis of drug abuse in forensic chemistry. For this study the suspected samples of marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy (MDMA) seized by the Police Civil of Minas Gerais were analyzed by immunochromatography and c...

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Analysis of cocaine and its adulterants in drugs for international trafficking seized by the Brazilian Federal Police

Cited by 71 publications

References 28 publications

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Levamisole, Aminorex, and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Review

Avaliação da técnica de imunocromatografia para análise de drogas de abuso no contexto da química forense

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