Two forensic experts from Italy and the UK have collaborated to develop a first-of-its-kind technique that enables quick and accurate characterization of illegal pharmaceuticals and other products. At the same time, they have developed an approach to better share this information across forensic laboratories at a global level, giving investigators a leg up when trying to track down illegal manufacturers and supply chains.
The trafficking of counterfeit and illegal medicines is a growing challenge, especially in the face of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. This year, INTERPOL has seen a rise in fake medical products ranging from counterfeit face masks, sub-standard hand sanitizer to unauthorized antiviral medication. In March 2020, the international police agency even led a COVID-19-related operation that saw 121 people arrested and more than 2,5000 websites taken offline.
From a health perspective, the main problem with illegal medicines is that they can be incredibly harmful, even fatal. Illicit medicines often contain the wrong amount of active ingredient and have even been found to contain mercury, arsenic, rat poison and cement. Currently, researchers use mass spectrometry to analyze suspected illegal medications.
“When illegal medicines are found, they need to be tested, and rapid early warnings dispersed whenever there is a serious threat to public health. However, this is not the only priority: the way they are tested also needs to incorporate collecting information about the product’s manufacturing and supply chain. This second need is vital for law enforcement agencies globally, for intelligence, investigation and criminal prosecution,” study authors Francesco Saverio Romolo and Matteo Gallidabino, write in an article for The Conversation.
But, the researchers say, that is easier said than done as sharing data across different forensic laboratories is difficult since analytical techniques are not “standard” on even a local level, nevermind global. Romolo points to “linkage blindness,” or the phenomenon in which police departments fail to share information that connects criminal activities because of a lack of cooperation or information-sharing technology.
“To effectively protect public health and allow criminal investigations, we cannot face global issues with local approaches. Several laboratories must work together and comprehensive testing methods are needed, that aren’t only trying to find possible toxic chemical substances, but also find and share information about where the seized materials came from, and how they were made,” says Romolo, who has over 25 years of experience in crime scene investigation and chemical analysis related to major criminal cases around the world.
The researchers’ most recent approach addresses the illegal medicines problem from both ends: analysis and data sharing.
In their study, published in Talanta, the researchers tested their new technique Viagra, which it is the most counterfeit medicine in Europe and the U.S. They used ion beam analysis (IBA) to characterize authentic Viagra tablets and sildenafil-based illegal products. For the first time, they combined IBA with instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), which uses neutron and proton beams to analyze every ingredient in a sample. Ultimately, the IBA results showed that a combination of particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and secondary ion mass spectrometry is a powerful tool to characterize products in a quick and accurate way, allowing discrimination between legal and illegal products.
At the same time, INAA allowed accurate elemental quantification and also showed a great potential for the future implementation of an inter-laboratory classification system.
“This new method is invaluable for intelligence, investigation and criminal prosecution as information can be shared quickly and accurately among laboratories around the world,” Romolo said.
The method is flexible enough to be applicable to not only illegal medications, but supplements, foods and drugs of abuse, as well. In fact, the researchers say the approach is already being tested in Italy in the illegal trafficking of cannabis, cocaine and heroin, which means it could be used to find links between drugs hauls around the world soon enough.