Characterization and Profiling of Methamphetamine Seizures

Abstract

Methamphetamine (MA) is the most common drug of abuse in Japan. MA is produced by chemical synthesis and final products of the drug contain small amounts of precursor chemicals, intermediates and by-products. Chirality is a principal characteristic of MA for evaluating the precursor chemicals. Adulterants such as dimethyl sulfone might be associated closely with trafficking routes of illicit drugs. Drug profiling is a scientific tool to identify the synthesis route, the sources of supply, trafficking routes and connections between seizures, which supports drug law enforcement agencies in their effort to eliminate organized drug crime. This review summarizes methods for characterization and profiling of MA hydrochloride, mainly based on our findings.

Impurity Profiling of Amphetamine and Methamphetamine Using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) Harmonised Methods

“…In this context it is pertinent to indicate here that this approach of tentative identification has been generally gaining acceptance within the body of literature (Bachs & Woo 2007;Inohue et al 2008;Kunalan et al 2009;Puthaviriyakorn et al 2002;Qi et al 2007Qi et al , 2006. The chromatographic profiles of the methamphetamine samples ( Figure 5) were evidently 'cleaner' with low abundance of impurities (Table 2) when compared to that of the amphetamine samples.…”

“…Further examination of the spectral data of the impurity peaks showed vital information regarding possible synthetic route of the amphetamine samples although not all of the impurity peaks were successfully identified. Some of the impurities were identified by comparing their mass spectral information against the hydrocarbon mass spectral database (NIST-version 2.0f) available in the GC-MS system as well as related literatures (Allan & Ely 2011;Andersson et al 2007a;Bachs & Woo 2007;Cole 2003;Inohue et al 2008;Kunalan et al 2009;Puthaviriyakorn et al 2002;Qi et al 2006;Verweij 1989). Identification of these impurities has helped to point out several important markers that are specific to drugs synthesized via certain routes.…”

“…Impurities peaks were integrated for normalisation against the eicosane (C20) internal standard peak area. Identifications of the peaks were made using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) mass spectral database (version 2.0f) (NIST 2008) available in the GC-MS system and also using previous literatures (Allan & Ely 2011;Andersson et al 2007a;Bachs & Woo 2007;Cole 2003;Inohue et al 2008;Kunalan et al 2009;Puthaviriyakorn et al 2002;Qi et al 2006;Verweij 1989).…”

Validation Study of Analysis of 1-Phenyl-2-Propanone in Illicit Methamphetamine Samples by Dynamic Headspace Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

“…Amphetamine (AMP) and Methamphetamine (MAMP) are widely abused drugs all over the world [1,2]. In fact, the abuse of amphetaminelike compounds has increased continuously in the last years becoming a global problem in recent years [3].…”

Analysis of Drugs of Abuse in Biological Specimens

“…Many reviews have focused on the drugs of abuse themselves, [5][6][7][8] specific biological specimens, such as hair, 9,10) the methodology, 11,12) or the analytical instruments. [2][3][4] In this review, on the basis of reports published in the last three years (2008-2010) describing the analyses of drugs of abuse in biological specimens, different perspectives, such as the need for and the background of drug analysis in biological specimens, and difficulty of drug testing in biological specimens, are introduced together with some actual examples.…”