Yusoff, Mohd Zawawi
(2017)
Forensic profiling of heroin seized from northern region of Malaysia.
Masters thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
A strategic location connecting the Golden Triangle or Afghanistan has prompted Malaysia
as a transit hub for trafficking activities of illicit drugs. An increasing source of illicit heroin,
originating from these regions, has been transhipped to other parts of Asia and also Oceania
countries. Therefore, forensic drug profiling could provide useful information on the
trafficking routes and the origin of drugs for intelligence purpose. This study is aimed at
establishing the possible relationship among the heroin samples seized from different sources
for predicting the trafficking network of illicit heroin in northern region of Malaysia. One
hundred and fifty-five seized heroin samples were examined physically to determine their
colours and texture. Colour tests, namely Marquis, Foerhde, Janovsky dan Simon’s were used
for screening purposes. Subsequently, all seized drug samples were analysed using three
analytical techniques, namely Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infra-red
spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionisation Detection (GC-FID) and
Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The analytical results were
subjected to chemometric procedures for chemical profiling and subsequently cluster the
seized heroin samples into possible groups. In this study, physical examination showed the
appearance of four different colours and three varying textures among the seized samples.
The positive reactions on Marquis and Foerdhe Reagents have shown the potential presence
of opiate related substances, including heroin. An optimised and validated GC-FID method
was used to analyse the samples. The method allowed rapid analysis of heroin samples within
approximately 12 minutes per run, thus enabled simple, precise and accurate analysis in highthroughput procedure often encountered in Narcotic Laboratory. The presence of heroin was
confirmed by using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Additional to GC analysis,
ICP-MS has enabled the quantitation of trace elements in the seized samples. Trace elements
present in seized heroin samples could be due to contamination from processing methods,
cooking utensils and chemicals used during cutting and packaging process. Results of FTIR
analysis were subjected to principal component analysis that revealed the formation of four
different clusters of illicit heroin, namely samples of high purity, samples cut with
polysaccharide and caffeine, as well as samples of very low purity. Hierarchy Cluster
Analysis following the FTIR analysis allows the discrimination of drug samples into ten subclusters
with the possibility of attributing similar refining process or cutting pattern during
drug trafficking. In general, heroin samples seized from central regions of Malaysia gave
significantly different profiles, separating them from those obtained in northern region.
Chemometrics are good exploratory methods to extract information about the origin of seized
heroin sample and their distribution chains. This comparative information offers beneficial
forensic intelligence to help establish the existence of different clusters of trafficking
network.
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