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). Statistical analyses, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were applied to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic impact in the local market. Bibliometric analysis was performed as a forensic intelligence tool.

RESULTS

From 2019-2020, cocaine average purity decreased 26 % while the frequency of cutting agents, as caffeine and anesthetics (lidocaine, tetracaine) increased. The high percentage of unknown were increased. Different cocaine profiling seized in 2020 showed new cutting agents, such as Irganox 1076, and Irgafos 168, indicating a trend on new adulterants/diluents introduced in the local market to mitigate the local drug shortage. Also in 2020, there was an increase in the local cocaine seizures, despite of the cocaine drug purity decreased by 26 % compared to 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, these data showed that the covid-19 pandemics has impacted cocaine trafficking in the Brazilian Federal District, an increase in cocaine seizures, which may indicate greater demand for the drug and, specially, changes in the cocaine purity and cutting agents profiling showing how traffickers tried to minimize difficulties in crossing the Brazilian border during COVID-19 restrictions. The information is relevant since Brazil is one of the major departure points for traded cocaine to the world. Bibliometric analysis showed that Irgafos 168 and Irganox 1076 were consistently identified as cocaine cutting agents for the first time.