Over the past year, law enforcement across the U.S. has seen dramatic and troubling trends in the fight against illicit drugs. It’s well known that narcotics distributors on the street strive to stay ahead of authorities in the manufacture and sale of dangerous drugs. Recently, however, spikes in overdoses from synthetic cannabinoids, fentanyl, fentanyl-laced heroin and a synthetic cathinone known as flakka are causing particular concern nationwide.
To address spikes in usage and overdoses, law enforcement is redoubling its efforts to keep drugs from reaching the street. But the task isn’t easy. That is why many jurisdictions around the country are eager to find any advantage—and some seem to have found it in new forms of handheld analytical technology.
Setting the synthetics scene
In mid-October 2015, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the results of a 15-month investigation into the synthetic drug industry. Project Synergy III, executed by the DEA in conjunction with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, concluded with more than 150 arrests in 16 states and the seizure of more than 3,000 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids. In their attempts to curb the flow of synthetic drugs into our country (this phase of Project Synergy focused on the production of synthetic drugs in labs in China), the agencies involved in the investigation recognized the need to educate the public about the dangers and consequences of these drugs.
“The availability and illicit marketing of synthetic drugs creates the impression that they are safe and legal, when in fact they are neither,” said Sarah R. Saldaña, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the DEA’s announcement of the results of Project Synergy III.
While federally coordinated investigations such as Project Synergy III are critical in the fight against drug proliferation, efforts at the local level are critical as well. Randall County, Texas, is one of many communities nationwide that is proactively taking on synthetics.
Randall County is located in the Texas Panhandle, includes the city of Amarillo, and is home to more than 125,000 people. Two years ago law enforcement there took decisive action against synthetics, particularly synthetic marijuana. The district attorney’s office, sheriff’s office and a local non-profit, the Impact Futures Drug-Free Community Coalition, collaborated to purchase a portable Raman spectroscopic device, the Thermo Scientific TruNarc analyzer. This small, handheld device had already been making a difference in other jurisdictions across the U.S. by quickly and accurately testing drugs.
Bruce Evans, senior sergeant of the Randall County crime scene investigation unit (CSIU), and his team developed a method that delivered immediate benefits. After the CSIU obtains what appear to be narcotics, a preliminary test of the drugs is done using the TruNarc analyzer, which has a closed loop system to ensure integrity and security of its spectral library. Test results are submitted to the district attorney, but rather than send the drugs to the state laboratory for further testing, the district attorney immediately seeks a plea agreement from the suspect. If a plea deal is not reached within two months, the sample is sent to the state lab and the plea offer is removed.
The process continues to work well for this county. Before Evans and his team started using the device, he estimates that they sent 350 drug cases to the state lab annually. Since then, however, only 35 cases total have gone to the state lab, helping significantly decrease the state’s backlog. Thanks to the reliability of the analyzer, a majority of cases are now settled at the plea stage before the need for evidence to be sent to the state lab.
Embracing advanced technology in Alabama
Budget cutbacks in Alabama have slowed the rate at which state laboratories can process evidence in drug cases. In 2011, three of nine laboratories operated by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences closed, leading to a significant drug case backlog: the number of cases on file more than doubled from August 2011 to March 2013. Meanwhile, the use of synthetic marijuana in Alabama was steadily rising as in other states.
Laboratory backlogs create a significant problem for drug cases because adjudication cannot proceed without an analytical report. In Alabama, it was common for 24 months to go by before an analysis report is finalized. Meanwhile, suspects arrested in drug cases may have made bond and re-offended multiple times before their original cases were resolved. Officials desperately needed an answer.
In 2012, Calhoun and Cleburne counties teamed up with the Jacksonville State University (JSU) Center for Applied Forensics to identify and implement a technology solution: they soon discovered the TruNarc analyzer could ease its contribution to the state backlog in 2012. During a three-month trial, plea agreements in the two counties increased dramatically and the state lab backlog decreased. Portable analyzers proved effective, especially for simple possession cases. Based on the improvements in prosecution speed and effectiveness, the counties fully adopted the technology at the end of the trial, as did the independent JSU center.
Etowah County followed suit in late 2013: according to Rob Savage, commander of Etowah’s Drug Task Force, the county reduced its case backlog to zero in less than eight months with the new technology.
“We’re resolving approximately 95 percent of cases through plea based on the data from TruNarc,” Savage said. “From a public safety standpoint we don’t have the same offenders who have already been identified and arrested continuing to offend. Their cases are being resolved. They’re either going into the prison system or other types of supervision. From our county’s perspective, we’re not continuing to deal with the same people over and over again, which frees up resources to identify other sources of narcotics and focus attention there.”
The growing fentanyl problem
In March of 2015, the DEA issued a nationwide alert regarding the dangers of fentanyl—a powerful synthetic painkiller commonly laced in heroin. The agency was responding to a dramatic increase in reported cases of abuse across the country. In 2014, the National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) identified 3,344 reported fentanyl-related seizure cases, up from 942 in 2013.
One recent spell in the city of Chicago reflects the nationwide scare: During a 72-hour period in late September and early October of 2015, 74 people in Chicago overdosed on what officials suspect was heroin laced with fentanyl. The number of overdoses reportedly hit 118 for a single week.
Fentanyl is particularly concerning to officials as the drug is 100 times more potent than morphine, and can be absorbed through the skin. Using field analyzers, law enforcement can identify the substance through sealed containers, preventing unnecessary exposures.
And it continues
Dealers and manufacturers continue to seek ways to avoid prosecution by tweaking the formulas to create new, unscheduled drugs, specifically when it comes to synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones. Many of these are white powders which are difficult or impossible to distinguish visually from one another—or from other drugs of abuse. Agility and real time drug analysis are now more important than ever in law enforcement, with new technology enabling law enforcement to stay steps ahead of offenders. As new substances hit the street, the library in a handheld analyzer can be updated to incorporate new substances. Suppliers can no longer rely on a comfortable head start, because law enforcement is able to more quickly adapt as new drugs hit the market.
Technology has transformed many industries, and now it’s time for law enforcement. Where offenders once found it easy to game the system, increasingly they find themselves facing an uphill battle. Now law enforcement is armed with something that should concern drug producers and suppliers—a way to collect and present evidence with real prosecutorial teeth. ■
Joseph Smith is the business development manager, safety and security for Thermo Fisher Scientific. Kerstin Barr is the product manager for safety and security
at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
