Citation

de Souza LM, Rodrigues RR, Santos H, Costa HB, Merlo BB, Filgueiras PR, Poppi RJ, Vaz BG, Romão W. Sci. Justice 2016; 56(2): 73-79.

Affiliation

Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil; Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Ministro Salgado Filho, Soteco, Vila Velha, ES CEP: 29106-010, Brazil. Electronic address: wandersonromao@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Forensic Science Society, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.scijus.2015.11.006

PMID

26976463

Abstract

Cocaine is a stimulant drug of the central nervous system (CNS) extracted from the leaves of Erytroxylum coca. It is defined as a tropane alkaloid containing 1R-(exo,exo)-3-(benzoyloxy)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylic acid methyl esther. However, despite its defined composition, a wide variety of chemical additives are present in cocaine found in the illicit market, such as benzocaine, lidocaine, caffeine, procaine and phenacetin. In this work, 512 cocaine samples seized by the Civil Police of Espirito Santo state (PC-ES, Brazil) were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) allied to principal component analysis (PCA) in order to classify the samples as a function of seizure year (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and location (metropolitan, north, south and central). The cocaine content (wt.%) and its adulterants were also estimated. Analyzing the samples seized between 2008 and 2011, three sample sets are clearly grouped according to the degree of adulteration with caffeine and lidocaine: 100-50wt.% of cocaine; 50-20wt.% of cocaine; and 20-80wt.% of lidocaine and 60-80wt.% of caffeine, simultaneously. The last group is formed by samples seized between 2008 and 2009, which proves the higher degree of adulteration during this period. In 2012, higher cocaine content was observed for the 191 analyzed samples than in samples from previous years. The PCA data also suggests that the metropolitan region samples had a higher degree of adulteration than the state countryside samples.

Copyright © 2015 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en