title: Dancing on coke: smuggling cocaine dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol.
abstract: Recent trends suggest that cocaine smugglers have become more and more inventive to avoid seizures of large amounts of cocaine transported between countries. We report a case of a mail parcel containing a dance pad which was seized at the Customs Department of Brussels Airport, Belgium. After investigation, the inside of the dance pad was found to contain a thick polymer, which tested positive for cocaine. Analysis was performed using a routine colorimetric swipe test, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The polymer was identified as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and contained 18% cocaine, corresponding to a street value of € 20,000. Laboratory experiments showed that cocaine could be easily extracted from the PVA matrix. This case report reveals a new smuggling technique for the transportation of large amounts of cocaine from one country to another.
authors: Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. alexander.vannuijs@ua.ac.be
authors: Alexander L N
authors: AL
authors: van Nuijs
authors: Kristof E
authors: KE
authors: Maudens
authors: Willy E
authors: WE
authors: Lambert
authors: Serge
authors: S
authors: Van Calenbergh
authors: Martijn D P
authors: MD
authors: Risseeuw
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Van hee
authors: Adrian
authors: A
authors: Covaci
authors: Hugo
authors: H
authors: Neels