Drug intelligence based on MDMA tablets data: 2. Physical characteristics profiling.

One of the tasks of the European project entitled "Collaborative Harmonisation of Methods for Profiling of Amphetamine Type Stimulants" (CHAMP) funded by the sixth framework programme of the European Commission was to develop a harmonised methodology for MDMA profiling and the creation of a common database in a drug intelligence perspective. Part I was dedicated to the analysis of organic impurities formed during synthesis in order to investigate traffic tendencies and highlight potential links between samples, whereas this part focuses on physical characteristics of the MDMA tablets. Diameter, thickness, weight and score were demonstrated to be reliable and relevant features in this drug intelligence perspective. Distributions of samples coming from the same post-tabletting batch (post-TB) and samples coming from different post-TB were very well discriminated by using the squared Euclidean or the Manhattan distance on standardised data. Our findings demonstrated the possibility to discriminate between MDMA samples issued from different post-TB and to find out links between samples coming from a same post-TB. Furthermore, the hypothesis that most of the MDMA samples found on the international market come from the same countries was supported.

[1]  J. Miller,et al.  Statistics and chemometrics for analytical chemistry , 2005 .

[2]  Alex Biedermann,et al.  Forensic drug intelligence: an important tool in law enforcement. , 2007, Forensic science international.

[3]  Mikhail Kanevski,et al.  Pattern detection in forensic case data using graph theory: application to heroin cutting agents. , 2007, Forensic science international.

[4]  Laura Aalberg,et al.  Drug intelligence based on MDMA tablets data I. Organic impurities profiling. , 2008, Forensic science international.

[5]  C. Zingg,et al.  The analysis of ecstasy tablets in a forensic drug intelligence perspective , 2005 .

[6]  A Bolck,et al.  Elemental analysis of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): A tool to determine the synthesis method and trace links. , 2007, Forensic science international.

[7]  S Lociciro,et al.  Cocaine profiling for strategic intelligence purposes, a cross-border project between France and Switzerland. Part I. Optimisation and harmonisation of the profiling method. , 2007, Forensic science international.

[8]  Tom Fawcett,et al.  An introduction to ROC analysis , 2006, Pattern Recognit. Lett..

[9]  M M van Deursen,et al.  Organic impurity profiling of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) tablets seized in The Netherlands. , 2006, Science & justice : journal of the Forensic Science Society.

[10]  Michael D Cole,et al.  Development of a harmonised method for the profiling of amphetamines: IV. Optimisation of sample preparation. , 2007, Forensic science international.

[11]  Thomas Layloff,et al.  Analytical Methods Validation: Bioavailability, Bioequivalence and Pharmacokinetic Studies , 1992, Pharmaceutical Research.

[12]  F Taroni,et al.  A methodology for illicit heroin seizures comparison in a drug intelligence perspective using large databases. , 2003, Forensic science international.