title: Qualitative, quantitative and temporal study of cutting agents for cocaine and heroin over 9 years.
abstract: Forensic laboratories mainly focus on the qualification and the quantitation of the illicit drug under analysis as both aspects are used for judiciary purposes. Therefore, information related to cutting agents (adulterants and diluents) detected in illicit drugs is limited in the forensic literature. This article discusses the type and frequency of adulterants and diluents detected in more than 6000 cocaine specimens and 3000 heroin specimens, confiscated in western Switzerland from 2006 to 2014. The results show a homogeneous and quite unchanging adulteration for heroin, while for cocaine it could be characterised as heterogeneous and relatively dynamic. Furthermore, the results indicate that dilution affects more cocaine than heroin. Therefore, the results provided by this study tend to reveal differences between the respective structures of production or distribution of cocaine and heroin. This research seeks to promote the systematic analysis of cutting agents by forensic laboratories. Collecting and processing data related to the presence of cutting agents in illicit drug specimens produces relevant information to understand and to compare the structure of illicit drug markets.
authors.affiliation: Ecole des sciences criminelles, Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d'administration publique, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: julian.broseus@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Broséus
authors.affiliation: Ecole des sciences criminelles, Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d'administration publique, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Ecole des sciences criminelles, Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d'administration publique, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonadio Pont
authors.affiliation: Ecole des sciences criminelles, Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d'administration publique, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Garcia Gongora
authors.affiliation: Ecole des sciences criminelles, Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d'administration publique, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Laëtitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gasté
authors.affiliation: Ecole des sciences criminelles, Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d'administration publique, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Esseiva
mesh_terms: D003042:Cocaine / Q000032:analysis*; D004340:Drug Contamination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064423:Drug Trafficking; D003932:Heroin / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000737:chemistry*; D013557:Switzerland
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D003932:Heroin; D003042:Cocaine
keywords: Adulterant; Criminal market; Diluent; Drug profiling; Illicit drug; Strategic intelligence