Counter-narcotics law enforcement depends on actionable intelligence obtained from confidential sources of information and complex investigations, as well as informed deductions and assumptions based on the facts. Based on these facts, law enforcement implements the best strategies to degrade narcotics trafficking.
While officers have access to various databases with narcotics intelligence, trafficking groups, their distributors and their movements, communications, etc., the prospect of a centralized database capable of tracking and sharing the identification of existing and new illicit substances in near real-time as officers uncover them while carrying out their duties could revolutionize their work.
In the course of their duties, law enforcement officers often come across what they suspect to be illicit substances. Some officers have the necessary tools to inspect and identify the suspicious substances, which allows them to make an arrest, provided that due process has been followed. For the majority, however, the lack of procedures for identifying narcotics, sharing their chemical formulations, and therefore the lack of protocols for dealing with them, presents a significant challenge.
If officers can't identify the substance, they can confiscate it and send it to a state laboratory for in-depth analysis. However, this process can take months to deliver a result, allowing the suspects to disappear. Months later, the lab may identify the substance, at which time various departments can share information and tactics to deal with it.
This wait-and-see approach wastes time and is potentially a get-out-of-jail-free card for the suspects. In addition, it also facilitates a new narcotic formula spreading without anyone tracking it. The delay is also unnecessary as it is highly improbable that the substance has never previously been seen within that community or area. With a centralized database, where law enforcement can input information and share it in real time, unknown substances can quickly be identified.
Without the database, we are left with America's current narcotics early warning system, which is when the coroner calls and notifies law enforcement that there has been a new series of overdose fatalities via a new and unknown chemical formulation. More time is then spent on investigations and tracking leads until the cause is determined, giving the narcotic time to spread like a virus throughout substance user community leading to an increase in fatality overdoses.
Officer safety at risk
Identifying narcotics on the scene is not only about effecting an arrest or sharing discoveries about new drugs on the streets. Information on the substance under investigation will also provide officers with the appropriate protocols for handling unknown substance. Many officers now, have a heighten awareness about handling fentanyl and the potential of an accidental exposure. There may not be a valid reason to worry, but the concern is there.
With new or combinations of existing narcotics appearing regularly, nobody knows whether future substances will have a dangerous impact if officers inadvertently allow them to make contact with their skin through a small cut or if they breathe in trace amounts. Recently, law enforcement found drug dealers mixing fentanyl and xylazine, which exacerbated the fentanyl overdose numbers. Xylazine, known on the streets as "tranq," is a powerful synthetic sedative approved only for veterinary use. The effects of using illicit xylazine include necrosis – the rotting of human flesh – which can lead to amputations if the victim survives. This alone may convince officers to send substances to the lab and risk losing the suspect rather than risk contact.
Budget cuts and resource allocation
In the late 1990s, the DEA operated a program where controlled buys were done at regular intervals, not to effect an arrest, but to find out what new drugs were on the streets – 'new' includes traditional narcotics that had been modified or cut with different chemicals. These substances were then sent to the DEA lab for analysis, providing the agency with vital counter-narcotics information.
The program worked well for some time but ended due to budget restrictions and other resourcing factors. Today, there is no active narcotics monitoring program in the country at a law-enforcement level. This could be one of the factors that allowed fentanyl to become a crisis, killing over 100,000 people in 2023 according to the CDC’s National Health Center.
As is the unfortunate norm, by the time authorities are ready to deal with the problem, including training police officers who will be interacting with substance abusers, sellers, and traffickers, as well as potentially exposing themselves to the drugs, it is already a crisis.
The additional, non-fatal consequences of widespread opioid addiction include many societal problems. Health risks, such as HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne diseases, increase due to sharing needles and other drug paraphernalia. At the same time, emergency services, hospitals, and treatment centers are often overwhelmed, and homelessness, child welfare issues, and a host of mental health concerns also surge. These costs are immeasurable in terms of financial, community, and human costs.
After the unexpected and tragic 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, security at airports and border posts was beefed up, and no-fly lists and terrorist watchlists were circulated widely, even to other countries. Other, less publicized precautions were also implemented to prevent such a devastating attack from happening again, and response protocols were revamped.
Centralized federal monitoring
Similar to the protocols for dealing with terrorist threats, counter-narcotics efforts need an additional intelligence-sharing strategy, starting with a central database where any law enforcement agency can find real-time, reliable presumptive analysis data on known and unknown drugs they discover in the course of their duties. They also need the ability to input information they uncover to have it analyzed and shared with other departments. This will allow small police departments with limited resources to access the same information as the FBI or DEA and cooperate in proactive prevention rather than a reactive clean-up after the bodies start piling up.
The database must be managed nationally to ensure accuracy and availability to all authorities in the country and even international law enforcement to assist them in their strategies and counter-narcotic tactics. It should also be open to harm reduction organizations as they are often the first to see new narcotics and their impact on civilians, playing an essential role in intelligence sharing.
A federal agency is, therefore, the only option to run the database program because it will need funding to run laboratories, employ analysts, and set up and maintain the technology stack required to make its findings broadly available. Existing organizations would have budget and human resources restraints preventing them from efficiently maintaining a monitoring system as their focus is on real-time counter-narcotics operations.
In addition, a federal agency will also be able to set standards and protocols regarding narcotics identification. One of these standards would be how officers and agents identify narcotics before sending them to laboratories. What is required is a quick, simple testing solution that accurately identifies narcotics at the point of contact without putting officers in harm's way.
Identify narcotics in a minute
Raman spectroscopy is well suited for real-time presumptive analysis of narcotics on the scene at a street level. The technology is portable, so accurate readings can be done anywhere, even during a traffic stop. It works by emitting a non-destructive laser at the suspicious substance, causing its molecules to react. This reaction is unique for every substance, providing an accurate reading that assists officers in deciding how to proceed. It also makes it simple to send the specifications of the substance scanned to a centralized database.
The Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG), responsible for supporting the development of recommended standards, techniques, protocols, and policies for the forensic examination of seized drugs, recognizes Raman spectroscopy as one of the Class A analytical techniques for presumptive field testing. It has become one of the standard methodologies for inspecting drugs and helping conduct probable cause searches and seizures.
Outplaying the cartels
It's become clear that the production of synthetic opioids is advancing rapidly due to the use of artificial intelligence. Cartels are using AI processing and detailed data analysis to design new opioid products quickly and efficiently, making them harder to detect. There is also a growing concern about the emergence of even more potent opioids than fentanyl in communities. Therefore, the United States' counter-narcotics efforts must implement a similar technological strategy to combat these dangerous developments. A federal narcotic database is therefore vital.
The long-term benefits of such a strategy will not only be lower fatality rates, but also reduce the social damage, such as addiction rates, dependence treatments, homelessness, mental illnesses, and the diseases that always accompany widespread addiction.
An effective real-time monitoring program, along with a national database, will be the foundation of a strategic, intelligence-based approach to the narcotics tsunami wreaking havoc in American cities. The program must go beyond just identifying narcotics. Analysis of narcotics, locations, and informant information collected nationwide will provide valuable insights into the people responsible for designing and manufacturing narcotics, their precursor chemicals' origins, and distribution methods. This level of actionable intelligence and information is essential for preventing future crises.
Creating and maintaining a central monitoring and analysis database would enable authorities to strategically target cartels by limiting their operations and sales, thereby reducing their profits. This would also help prevent another opioid epidemic in America, along with the resulting financial and social burdens, while simultaneously improving society's readiness to safeguard at-risk communities and allocate resources to support individuals and communities struggling with substance addiction.
