Analysis of narcotic drugs in non-laboratory conditions.
GANSHIN Vladimir Mikhailovich, Candidate of Technical Sciences
CHEBYSHEV Alexander Vasilievich, Candidate of Chemical Sciences,
FESENKO Anatoly Vladimirovich, Doctor of Technical Sciences
ANALYSIS OF NARCOTICS IN OUT-OF-LABORATORY CONDITIONS
Currently, the illegal production, transportation and distribution of narcotic substances, the appearance on the “black market” of more and more new types of drugs are acquiring a global character.
The annual social cost of drug-related crime in the United States alone is estimated by experts to be approximately $67 billion and threatens to destroy the social fabric of society.
It is the total need, and not just the “pernicious addiction” to drug use, that makes a person truly dangerous.
This danger is greater the more he is involved in making socially important decisions, finances, and confidential information.
In developed Western countries, where the losses inflicted annually on government and commercial structures by drug users amount to tens of billions of dollars, fairly effective control systems have been created and continue to be intensively developed, allowing for a significant reduction in the level of threats arising from this.
The control system usually includes biochemical testing of human excreta, as well as psychophysiological tests using “lie detectors,” during which the attitude of those being tested toward drugs is determined.
In addition, the control system includes covert checks by security services of individuals and designated contingents of citizens for traces of drugs at their workplaces, in cars, etc.
In the United States, drug testing is carried out on a particularly large scale.
It is mandatory (since 1981) in the armed forces, in transport and in the energy industry (1983), in almost all large companies (1985), in government structures (1986).
In state-certified laboratories alone, up to 60,000 such tests are performed daily.
An analysis of the situation conducted in 1996 by a commission under the Government of the Russian Federation shows that in the Russian Federation the threats associated with illegal drug trafficking and abuse remain quite high and tend to worsen.
First of all, the number of consumers of narcotic and potent substances is growing at a rapid rate.
Based on their social composition, those most susceptible to drug addiction are those who do not have a permanent source of income.
The share of entrepreneurs and intellectuals in the structure of consumers is only 0.1%, but their number is growing quite rapidly.
Based on age characteristics, the predominant number of consumers (76%) are young people under 30 years of age.
The growth of drug abuse is inextricably linked with the growth of drug crime. Compared to 1985 (i.e. over 10 years), crime has increased by 4.8 times.
At the same time, the number of large-scale crimes has increased by 9.4 times.
6.5 times more drug dealers have been identified.
In a number of regions with a high level of drug crime, it accounts for up to 60% of all property crimes committed. The value of illegal drug trafficking is constantly increasing.
It amounted, according to expert estimates, to 4 trillion rubles in 1995 and was largely due to the multiple increase in the illegal turnover of expensive drugs — cocaine, heroin, synthetic drugs, and opium.
It is characteristic that the level of prices on the Russian black market for a number of drugs, primarily cocaine and heroin, has already exceeded the European and American ones, creating extremely favorable conditions for the further expansion of international business on Russian territory.
In this regard, the most dangerous trend at present is the rapid growth of drug smuggling into Russia.
Analysis of crimes related to large quantities of drugs shows that up to 30% of drugs are smuggled into Russia by citizens of neighboring countries (Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Central Asian states).
The supply of narcotics from “far abroad” countries is increasing — cocaine from Colombia, Peru and the USA, heroin from the “golden triangle” countries, and medicinal narcotics from India.
Railway remains the main means of drug delivery, accounting for 79.8% of the total volume of contraband drugs.
5.3% of drugs are transported by air, 14.3% by road.
A combined assessment of numerous testimonies also allows us to conclude that Russia has become the target of the expansion of the international drug business, and criminal groups of Russian drug dealers have entered into active interaction with it.
From the above, it follows that the widespread introduction of methods of non-laboratory drug testing is literally a challenge of the times.
In this regard, we will try to consider the situation systematically, from the point of view of ensuring the necessary sufficiency” for solving the main tasks of controlling the illegal turnover and distribution of narcotic drugs.
An analysis of the available information shows that, based on a set of operational and technical requirements, numerous types of equipment and diagnostics can be divided into three main groups.
Group A — stationary inspection equipment based on the use of various types of penetrating radiation and intended for use in airports, customs terminals, etc.
As a rule, devices of this type implement one of the modern variants of component local-distributive analysis (X-ray viewing equipment, neutron tomography, etc.).
Important characteristics of these devices are geometric and temporal resolution, as well as the speed of processing analytical information (information flow).
Since the equipment of this group is often used to control large-sized cargo, such a parameter as the detection limit is much less important for it, which is on average at a level sufficient to detect milliquantities of the target component (10E-1 — 10E-2g).
Group B — stationary equipment for highly sensitive and express analysis and preliminary identification of narcotic drugs, based on the use of modern physicochemical methods (ion drift spectrometry, surface ionization, resonant laser absorption, etc.).
It is intended to solve problems of component and partly structural analysis in combination with group A equipment, as well as to solve independent problems in non-laboratory conditions.
The most important analytical characteristics of this type of equipment are, in accordance with its functional purpose, selectivity, throughput and detection limit, satisfying the requirement for reliable detection of microtraces of the analyzed component in the range of 10E-6 -10E-12 g.
Finally, it is advisable to include immunochemical and chemical tests and diagnostics, as well as small-sized portable devices based on them, intended for individual use for the purpose of detecting and preliminary identification of narcotic drugs directly in field conditions, in Group B.
Chemical diagnostics are characterized by sufficient sensitivity at the level of color drop reactions (10E-3 -10E-6 g of substance in the sample) and are used mainly for preliminary determination of the nature of the drug in plant materials, solutions, ointments, tablets, etc.
The scope of quantitative determination of immunochemical tests and diagnostics is mainly in the range from 10E-6 to 10E-12 g of the analyzed substance in the sample.
This allows for the confident detection and identification of drugs not only in confiscated materials, on hands, clothing, vehicles, etc., where the drug could have gotten as a result of direct contact, but also for covert work to detect ultra-micro quantities of drugs on the surfaces of various objects, where the drug got indirectly as a result of multi-contact transfers through the hands (fingerprints) of objects of interest to law enforcement agencies.
EQUIPMENT FOR NON-CONTACT, REMOTE DETECTION OF DRUGS (GROUP A)
Available information allows us to believe that recently the world's leading research centers and laboratories have been implementing multi-purpose projects to create fast and reliable technologies for identifying explosives and NS in baggage and transit cargo.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), most of the technical systems offered for use do not provide a full guarantee of identifying the entire range of substances prohibited for transportation.
The bottleneck remains the insufficient throughput of technical systems, limited both by the low speed of baggage inspection and by a fairly large number of false alarms.
X-ray tomographs using the capabilities of modern computers are still considered the most reliable and effective for detecting explosives and narcotics.
The main disadvantage of technical systems of this type is their low productivity and high cost (around 1 million dollars).
For example, United Airlines is testing the CTX-5000 system developed by Invision Technologies Inc., which is currently the only device certified in the United States that is ready for serial production.
The system is based on the method of computer electron tomography using X-ray radiation.
The analysis of the baggage contents occurs in two stages.
In the first stage, during a preliminary X-ray examination of the baggage, “suspicious areas” are identified that may contain explosives or narcotics.
At the second stage, the selected areas are scanned using computed tomography and a three-dimensional image is reconstructed from the resulting “slices” using appropriate software, allowing the X-ray density of objects to be assessed.
If the density indicator is close to the known density values for explosives or drugs, the operator is given an alarm signal.
An alternative to the STX-5000 complex may be the Examiner 3DX 6000 unit being developed by Lockheed Martin.
According to experts, the processing time of a piece of baggage due to the use of the original technology of helical scanning with an X-ray beam on the Examiner 3DX 6000 tomograph will be no more than 5.3 seconds, which is significantly lower than the similar indicator of the STX-5000 tomograph.
The cost of each tomographic complex is estimated at approximately 1 million dollars.
It should be noted that traditional X-ray viewing devices are 2-3 times cheaper and win in speed, although they are inferior to tomographs in reliability and detection efficiency.
A new system in this class is the VACIS mobile unit for remote monitoring of the contents of freight vehicles, developed by the American company SAIC (Science Amplications International Corporation) on order from the Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP).
The system is based on a gamma densitometer and consists of a gamma radiation source located on one side of the vehicle being monitored and 48 detectors, each about 8 cm in size, on the other.
A special device fan-shaped a narrow beam of radiation through the object being examined.
The receiving devices transmit information about the absorption of radiation from the sensor system to a computer, which converts the signals into an image at a speed of up to 40 cm per second.
Initial tests confirmed the possibility of detecting containers with products prohibited for transportation in a layer of liquid.
It is emphasized that such a system can be used especially effectively, first of all, to detect drug smuggling in tank trucks, especially in cases where highly toxic liquid materials are listed in the consignment notes for the transported products.
The power and duration of gamma radiation exposure are selected taking into account the safety of service personnel, which allows them to be near the radiation source without protective clothing and ensures the secrecy of dosimetric monitoring.
Anti-drug experts emphasize that the role of covert non-destructive methods of monitoring drugs transported by motor vehicles is constantly increasing, and therefore the VACIS system should be widely used in practice.
STATIONARY PHYSICOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS DEVICES (GROUP B)
In the second direction (creation of devices with contact sampling), there is information about the development by the German company Teterob GmbH of a portable installation “IONSCAN 400” (weight 28 kg) based on IMS technology (Ion Mobility Spectroinetry), which allows for the reliable detection of a fairly large range of explosives and narcotics at the ion-molecular level.
The device is based on the spectral analysis of a special fine microfiber filter, through which air drawn from the surfaces being tested (e.g. hands, a person’s face, clothes, luggage, etc.) is first passed using a suction device. The filter allows the molecules of the above-mentioned substances to be retained, which are then subjected to spectral analysis.
The quality of the filter and the sensitivity of the device are demonstrated, in particular, by the fact that “IONSCAN 400 clearly determines the fact of contact between a person and the specified materials even after washing their hands three times, if they were not protected during contact.
The spectral analysis, subsequent automatic comparison of the obtained results with the test spectra of the sought substances stored in the personal computer memory, and the issuance of a response to the operator are carried out within 4.5 seconds.
The sensitivity of the device in determining explosives is within the range of 50 to 200 pg (picograms), and for drugs — from 1 to 5 ng (nanograms).
In terms of identification capabilities, “IONSCAN 400” provides express determination of a large number of narcotic and explosive substances:
— drugs: cocaine, heroin, LSD, PSP, amphetamines, methamphetamines, other stimulants, including synthetic drugs:
— explosives: PETN, RDX, SEMTEX, TNT, DNT, NG, HMX, Tetryl.
The device can be programmed to detect and identify up to 18 compounds simultaneously with the issuance of analysis results within 6 s.
The analysis result is displayed on the display as a “hold” or skip signal.
In the first case, the name of the substance or substances detected is displayed on the device display. Detection limit: 1-5 ng for drugs, 50 — 200 pg for explosives.
Thus, the principle of IMS technology underlying the device's operation allows for the simultaneous detection of a fairly wide range of chemical substances at high speed and with high sensitivity.
Taking into account the capabilities and technical characteristics of the “IONSCAN 400” device, the German special services, border and customs services propose using it as one of the auxiliary means in the fight against terrorism in air transport and intend to equip German airports with it in the near future.
A technology of microanalysis, similar in physical principle, known by the abbreviation ITMS (Ion Trap Mobility Spectrometry), has received instrumental implementation in the ITEMISER-C” system for detecting and identifying explosives and drugs, developed and manufactured by the English company ITI (Ion Track Instruments).
The device complex uses a patented technology for express (analysis time — less than 3 sec) detection and identification of traces of narcotic and explosive substances.
The operating principle of the device is also based on ion mobility spectrometry. Samples are collected on a special filter either using a vacuum cleaner or by mechanically wiping the analyzed surface with a filter.
The filter with the sample is placed in the device and heated. Substances evaporate from its surface and are transferred to the reaction chamber by a flow of purified and dried air.
The substance that entered the reaction chamber is ionized and then enters the ion mobility spectrometer.
In the spectrometer, ions of different types are separated and finally detected, falling on the collector electrode.
Narcotics are detected in the positive ion detection mode, explosives — in the negative ion detection mode. The entire process of measurement and processing of results is controlled by a microprocessor with the appropriate software.
According to ITI experts, ITMS technology provides an increase in detection sensitivity by an order of magnitude compared to the similar technology of the “IONSCAN 400” device due to the original system for introducing a sample into the spectrometer.
The drugs detected and identified at the level of 100 picograms include: cocaine/crack, heroin/speed, tetrahydrocannabinol/ecstasy, LSD, amphetamines and many others.
The system provides the ability to automatically calibrate ion spectra for new narcotic substances, has weight and size characteristics acceptable for practical work in non-laboratory conditions, and is easy to debug and manage.
The ITEMISER device complex is recommended for use by anti-terrorist units, police, customs, air and road transport control and security services when checking baggage, various goods, containers, premises, passengers and personnel at airports, customs terminals, prisons and other sensitive facilities.
Another fundamentally new direction in special instrumentation for the purpose of ultra-sensitive and remote analysis of narcotic drugs in non-laboratory conditions is implemented in the “Spectrophone” device, advertised by the American company JAYCOR (San Diego, California).
The operating principle of the device is based on the resonant absorption of laser radiation by narcotic and explosive substances with the registration of the resulting local pressure drops in the form of sound waves by a sensitive microphone.
The device consists of a compact laser, a control chamber with a detecting microphone, a laser radiation modulator, a phase-sensitive signal amplifier and a computer for controlling the process and processing the analysis results.
During the working cycle of the device, the analyzed air sample enters the control chamber, where it enters the zone of action of the laser beam, the wavelength of which coincides with the maximum absorption of the analyzed compound.
According to the company's experts, for the overwhelming majority of narcotic and explosive substances, the maximum absorption occurs at wavelengths in the range from 2 to 15 microns, which makes it possible to use small-sized semiconductor lasers in the device.
This system is based on a large number of original technical solutions, which include phase-sensitive detection technology, highly effective sound screens for high-quality reduction of external noise levels, and a number of other inventions not disclosed by the company.
According to the authors, the “Spectrophone” system allows detecting target components at a level of up to 1 picogram, which is 5 thousand times greater than the capabilities of specially trained service dogs. The analysis time does not exceed 5 seconds, which is at an acceptable level for most practical applications.
In the process of bringing the prototype device up to the level of operational requirements, the developers will have to solve a number of complex technical problems associated with the implementation of the reconfiguration of the laser radiation wavelength for the simultaneous identification of two or more narcotic drugs.
This may require the use of an appropriate number of parallel measuring channels in the device.
Nevertheless, according to American experts, the high tactical and technical characteristics of the device (high sensitivity, speed, ease of use and relatively low cost) will allow it to be effectively used in the near future at stationary control areas at airports, customs and border checkpoints.
In conclusion of this section, we will provide data on some promising domestic hardware systems that are in the development and design stage.
Interesting promising developments and technical proposals for the creation of highly sensitive systems for the analysis of narcotic drugs in non-laboratory conditions are currently being put forward by the leading enterprise for the creation of instrument complexes for the analysis of explosives — the Engineering Center for Geophysical and Environmental Instrumentation of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
These devices include, first of all, the high-speed portable chromatograph Tornado-M with air as a carrier gas and a non-recombinant detector (NRD).
When developing this device, the specifics of the work of special services and the requirements put forward for a wide range of simultaneously detected narcotic compounds, ease of operational work, low weight and dimensions were taken into account as much as possible.
In the project for developing the Tornado-M chromatograph, applied R&D has been completed, which shows the fundamental possibility of its use for drug analysis purposes and defines technical solutions for the main units and blocks, in particular the air purification unit and the BRD, as well as the technology for manufacturing highly efficient, fast-acting polycapillary columns with high thermal-oxidative stability.
To complete the work in this area, it is proposed to conduct experimental design work.
A portable high-speed gas chromatographic detector with increased selectivity has higher characteristics in accordance with the prospectus data.
Improvement of the characteristics of this detector is ensured by the use of a detector based on an ion drift nonlinearity spectrometer (IDNS).
Unlike the classical method, ion separation is not based on mobility coefficients (IONSCAN analyzer, Barringer Instruments), but on more individual parameters of the mobility coefficient dependence on the magnitude of the periodic electric field strength.
Combining a gas chromatograph and SNDI allows for more informative “two-dimensional” chromatograms.
This project has obtained preliminary results and proposes to conduct applied research.
IMMUNOCHEMICAL DIAGNOSTICUMS (GROUP B)
One of the promising areas currently being developed to solve drug control problems in accordance with world practice is the area associated with the development of highly specific immunochemical diagnostics for various groups of narcotic drugs.
Available information on this issue gives grounds to believe that at least 10 biotechnological firms in developed Western countries (USA, UK, France and Germany) have already mastered or are at the stage of industrial development of the production of various types of immunodiagnostics of narcotic drugs.
With the help of immunochemical diagnostics, a wide range of narcotic substances are directly or indirectly (by metabolic products) identified: opiates (morphine, heroin, etc.), cannabinoids, barbiturates, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, etc.
The detection limit of immune methods is usually in the range from 50 to 0.2 ng/ml with a study time (depending on the complexity of the analysis option) from 3-10 minutes to several hours.
A significant number of foreign companies (we will name among them the companies that control the US market: Roch Diagnostics concern — the main supplier of products for military institutions, Abbott Laboratories, Syva Corporation, Ortho Diagnostics, Baxter Corporation) produce immunodiagnostics designed to detect narcotic drugs, including in non-laboratory conditions, mainly in biological fluids (urine).
Characteristic of the current stage is that a number of companies are successfully developing a segment of this market associated with highly sensitive detection of drugs directly in the field on various drug-contaminated surfaces.
For example, the company Audio Intelligence Devices (USA) offers a set of equipment for this purpose (a portable electronic module and a cocaine immunosensor made in the form of plastic cards), the principle of which is based on recording the adhesion of sensitized latex particles during the interaction of drug molecules with specific monoclonal antibodies.
This version of instrumental (automated and computerized) analysis ensures fast (a few seconds) and specific detection of drug traces on various surfaces (car steering wheel, driver's hands, clothing, etc.) with the total content of the latter on the tested surface being a fraction of a nanogram.
Thermedics Detection Inc. (USA) offers a qualitatively simplified AccuPress immunodiagnostic for detecting morphine and cocaine in field conditions on various surfaces.
In this case, the developers used the principle of a color immunochemical reaction on special membranes, ensuring selective detection of microtraces of the corresponding drugs at a level of 1 μg with an analysis time of within 10 s.
The latter circumstance allows us to qualify the AcenPress diagnostic as a means of operational analysis, ensuring the detection of narcotic substances only on heavily “contaminated” (by drugs) surfaces, which, presumably, makes it impossible to use it to solve the most complex problems associated with the search for microtraces of narcotic drugs.
Apparently, the most advanced in technical terms and in terms of ease of use is the portable ultra-high-sensitivity drug detector from the German company Securitec GmbH, which is based on the principle of interaction of drugs with specific antibodies labeled with “chemical signal amplifiers” — enzymes.
Diagnostic devices of this type are characterized not by individual, but by group specificity and are used in large-scale examinations (screening) of groups of people in order to identify drug abuse (army, prisons, industry, schools, etc.).
A distinctive feature of the design of the portable Securitec sensor is its adaptability for express analysis of objects and surfaces that could come into contact with drugs during production, transportation and distribution operations, in “field conditions.”
It follows from the description that the fact of contact with a narcotic substance (testing) is determined by direct contact of the detector with the surface being examined (luggage, clothing, human hands). The analysis takes no more than three minutes.
Narcotic substances such as heroin, cocaine, cannabinol (hashish) are determined by the device without error.
It is worth noting that the device does not require special settings and is always ready for testing.
Information about the possibility of using the Securitec device to determine minor concentrations of drugs in the air is fundamentally interesting and new, which indicates its qualitatively higher sensitivity.
According to experts from the Customs Criminal Office (Zoll-kriminalamt) of Germany, such a device will greatly facilitate the detection of illegally transported drugs.
It is especially valuable in cases where the smuggler carries drugs in his stomach or in hermetically sealed packaging and when specially trained dogs cannot detect them.
For example, in Munich, a passenger from Venezuela was identified in this way, who was carrying 120 grams of heroin.
It is believed that there are no other similar devices on the world market yet. Orders for the German product have allegedly already come from the USA, Austria, Switzerland and Kuwait.
The materials presented selectively demonstrate quite convincingly that the development of modern immunochemical diagnostics of narcotic substances is undergoing new development, associated with miniaturization, simplification of practical use and increase in the level of sensitivity of technical means used to visualize the results of analysis directly in the field, giving them new technical and tactical capabilities.
CHEMICAL TESTS (GROUP B)
Currently, chemical kits for drug detection, kits and portable laboratories based on them, due to their development, low cost and reliability in operation, are undoubtedly the most advanced in the diagnostic group B.
These kits, designed for preliminary identification of narcotic and potent substances in non-laboratory conditions, can be divided into 3 main groups according to the method of application: drop, aerosol and ampoule. Drop tests are the cheapest to manufacture and the easiest to use.
They are based on the use of chemical reactions of narcotic drugs with specially selected reagents to form colored products. They are usually carried out in small glass or porcelain plates with recesses.
The most famous representative of this type of analysis is the UN kit. In the Folin-Vogel kit (Austria), the drip type of analysis is combined with the use of filter paper or fabric strips impregnated with special reagents.
Drip chemical tests for some types of narcotic drugs can be used during covert inspections, but such options require fairly high qualifications from the personnel.
Aerosol chemical tests combine the simplicity of drop reactions on filter papers with the rapidity and some ease of use, especially in field conditions, characteristic of various types of household sprays.
The most well-known aerosol drug tests for the detection of cocaine («Cocaspray») and cannabinoids («Cannabiaspray»), produced by one of the Israeli companies. Aerosol tests are not currently used in the practice of law enforcement agencies in Russia.
Ampoule tests are currently the most widely used kit in law enforcement practice for detecting various types of narcotic drugs.
As the name suggests, the corresponding chemical reactions with the formation of colored products occur in transparent polymer containers (bags or tubes) after placing a sample containing a drug in them and crushing a glass ampoule with a suitable reagent.
The generally accepted standard of this type of kit is the NIC kit by Becton-Dinicson (USA).
Kits from other manufacturers are also known: Narcotest and Politest.
The Russian version of the Narcotest kit manufactured by Spetspribor, TOKBA JSC (Tula) compares favorably with foreign ones in its expanded range of detectable drugs (as well as a number of pharmaceuticals), acceptable delivery conditions and cost.
Having detection limits equal to foreign analogues, the portable chemical laboratory Narcotest comes out ahead in the range of detectable compounds.
It provides express detection and preliminary identification of almost all narcotic drugs: hemp, hashish, marijuana, poppy straw, opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine, codeine, promedol, barbiturates, ephedrine and ephedrone.
Kits with an expanded range of detectable drugs are being prepared for release, designed to identify a number of new synthetic drugs that have recently appeared on the developing “Russian drug market.”