Abstract:
Drug-facilitated crimes are those in which a person is made a victim of a criminal
conduct by means of the incapacitating impact of alcohol or illicit drugs. In drugs-
facilitated crimes (DFCs), advanced analytical techniques are increasingly used for
drug identification. They serve as vital investigative tools for handling intricate
analytical problems. In a simulated crime scene, the project's goal was to identify and
examine CNS depressants (Alprazolam, Diazepam, Tramadol, Buspirone, and
Clonazepam) using sophisticated hyphenated analytical techniques and chemometric
methods. The principal objective of this research was to use dried spots on cotton,
surfaces spiked with different CNS depressants, and beverages like Pepsi, apple juice,
and milk to develop realistic crime scene scenes. Techniques including attenuated total
reflectance-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), high-performance
liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD), and gas chromatography-
mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to precisely identify and discriminate these
drugs. By combining ATR-FTIR with chemometric methods like principal component
analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (PCA-DA), the precise classification of
unknown depressants was accomplished. GC-MS and HPLC-DAD procedures were
developed to validate the findings. When CNS depressants were extracted from
suspected CNS depressants spots in crime scene samples, acceptable recoveries of 75%
to 92% were obtained. As a result, this holistic approach offered reliable and effective
techniques for conducting forensic investigations.
