Abstract
The determination of cocaine in drug samples is an important task for law enforcement agencies such as the Brazilian Federal Police (BFP). In this sense, this paper proposes a method based on infrared spectra obtained by attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) to quantify cocaine hydrochloride in drug samples. The method was developed and validated with 275 actual samples of drugs seized by the BFP. The determination was performed between 35 to 99% (m/m) of cocaine in the drug samples. Results indicate that the method is able to directly analyze drug samples containing cocaine in its hydrochloride form without any sample preparation with average prediction errors of 3.00% (m/m), 1.50% (m/m) precision and 13% (m/m) of minimum detectable concentration.
Highlights
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), cocaine is the second most problematic drug worldwide in terms of negative health consequences, and probably the most problematic one in terms of drug trafficking-related violence.[1]
The results described in the literature suggest that infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis can be a viable analytical method for cocaine analysis in drug samples
The results show that the validated method based on the combination of the attenuated total reflectance (ATR)-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic technique and partial least squares regression (PLSR) allows for the direct determination of the hydrochloride cocaine concentration of drug samples seized in several Brazilian states
Summary
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), cocaine is the second most problematic drug worldwide in terms of negative health consequences, and probably the most problematic one in terms of drug trafficking-related violence.[1]. In order to increase drug volumes and illegal trafficking profits, various substances are added to cocaine. Since the 1970s, the analytical methods used for the determination of cocaine in drug samples have evolved substantially.[3] Currently, gas chromatography is the main technique applied for this analysis, since it provides accurate and precise results.[4,5] gas chromatography is the recommended technique in the UNODC’s manuals.[6,7,8] despite the excellent results, gas chromatography usually requires a relatively complex sample preparation procedure and results in high
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