Irgafos 168 and Irganox 1076 as new cocaine cutting agents: A COVID-19 pandemic impact on cocaine profiling and trafficking in Brazil.

Backgrounds: Restrictions in movement and closure of borders imposed by the Sars-Cov- 2 worldwide pandemic have affected the global illicit drug market, including cocaine trafficking. In this scenario, comparing cutting agents added to the cocaine and the drug purity are valuable strategies to understand how the drug trade has been impacted by the pandemic.

Methods: In this work, 204 cocaine salt materials seized in the Brazilian Federal District, before (2019) and during COVID-19 pandemics (2020) were analyzed by two analytical techniques: gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Scott test associated with multivariate image analysis: A more selective alternative for cocaine research in forensic laboratories.

Scott test is a simple, rapid, and low-cost preliminary test used extensively to suggest the presence of cocaine in drug seizures due to the development of a blue color. However, the presence of cutting agents can compromise the test result and may suggest the presence of cocaine when the drug is absent. This study evaluated the frequency of these results and the spectral behavior and color development of false positive substances.