Drugs Facilitated Crime (DFC) is a general term that is used to describe crime perpetrated using over-the counter drugs such as Rohypnol, Xanax, Valium and a multitude of other sedatives. These sedatives are often used in crime such as robbery, the maltreatment of the elderly and children, as well as rape and other sexual assaults.<br/>Identification of the drugs, or their metabolites in biological specimens such as urine, blood, saliva and hair of victims is commonly proof of exposure to the drug. However, since most of these drugs are highly potent, they can act at very low doses and it is difficult to detect their presence using routine analytical methods. The detection of the drugs and their metabolites in urine and blood at sub ppb levels is required to track the use of this drug in criminal cases even days after they were administered. In this project, an analytical method using Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) coupled to Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) was developed to extract and detect commonly used drugs and some of their metabolites at concentrations of sub ppb in aqueous samples. The developed method can be used for analyzing the drugs in biological samples such as urine and blood.

Analysis of drugs used in facilitated criminal acts using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

254th National Meeting (2017)

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