ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF C-13 AS A TOOL FOR COMPARISON AND ORIGIN ASSIGNMENT OF SEIZED HEROIN SAMPLES

The applicability of isotopic analysis of C-13 for forensic purposes h as been discussed in the case of heroin. The obtained results showed f irst that morphine acetylation induces an isotopic fractionation, so t hat the C-13 enrichment of diacetylmorphine depends on both geographic al origin of the sample and source of acetic anhydride used by the dru g trafficker. That measurement can then be of great interest in the de termination of common-batch samples (tactical intelligence purpose). S econd, diacetylmorphine deacetylation has also been studied and it app eared that this deacetylation allows to relieve the enrichment from th e acetylation-induced part. Therefore, measuring morphine C-13 enrichm ent, from deacetylated heroin samples, can be useful for determining t he geographical origin of the samples (strategic intelligence purpose) . Moreover, measuring both diacetylmorphine and morphine C-13 enrichme nts may help identify the source of acetic anhydride used by the drug trafficker, so that the fraudulent laboratory where the morphine sampl es have been acetylated.