A SURVEY AND COMPARISON OF HEROIN SEIZURES IN ISRAEL DURING 1992 BY FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROMETRY

During 1992, a survey was performed on heroin powder exhibits seized t hroughout Israel. The main objectives were to detect salt forms and ad ditives and compare the powders for intelligence and investigation pur poses. A total of 3817 exhibits were scanned by FTIR; five major group s were distinguished: heroin free base, heroin base with caffeine, her oin base with paracetamol (acetaminophen), heroin base containing both caffeine and paracetamol, and a mixture of heroin base, heroin HCl an d caffeine. In addition, 419 exhibits collected during a two month per iod were compared amongst themselves and categorized into sub-groups b ased on the similarity of their spectra. Based on this data, it was po ssible to define 116 different sub-groups, of which 56 sub-groups cont ained from 2 to 47 samples. Of the total number of cases tested, 78% w ere in the weight range 1 mg-1 g, that is, user quantities. Results we re tabulated on both a geographical and monthly basis. Differences wer e found in the distribution of additives between different geographica l areas of the country.