Difficulties in the determination of cocaine impregnated on clothing

Abstract

Introduction:  Cocaine is a substance with anesthetic and psychoactive activity obtained from the leaf of the coca plant. Since the need to identify this compound has been observed, various techniques have been used for the determination and visualization of the alkaloid. Objective:  Identify the problems involved in the detection of cocaine impregnated in clothing. Methodology:  Scientific articles were reviewed as a form of pre-selection, then a critical reading of the documents was conducted to finally analyze the content and order the information according to its relevance. Results:  Significant disadvantages in the detection of cocaine in different clothing materials will be exposed. Conclusion:  The exposed methods that allow detecting the presence of cocaine in textile materials or clothing have several disadvantages when performing the analysis "in situ" or in the laboratory; disadvantages such as discoloration of the results, low concentration of cocaine in the sample, spectra or plasmagrams that require interpretation by a highly qualified professional, substances that mask the cocaine or the homogeneity of the cocaine in the garment to be able to quantify it.  General science area:  Laboratory – Criminalistics / Forensics. Specific area of science: Forensic chemistry.