Micro-HPLC–UV analysis of cocaine and its adulterants in illicit cocaine samples seized by Austrian police from 2012 to 2017

Abstract

The worldwide consumption of illicit drugs presents a big problem in terms of health care and prosecution. In the recent years, hundreds of novel psychoactive substances came up and were traded through the Internet, but there is still a big demand for classic illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and ecstasy. Among these, cocaine particularly is frequently altered not only with excipients but also with other physiologically active substances. The purpose of this work was to estimate the trend of cocaine purity and abundance of its adulterants in samples seized by Austrian police from 2012 to 2017. A micro-HPLC method for quantification of cocaine and its most common adulterants was developed and validated using gradient elution and UV detection at four wavelengths. A total of 110 cocaine samples were analyzed. In all the samples, cocaine was present as hydrochloric salt. Caffeine, procaine, levamisole, phenacetin, lidocaine, and benzocaine were the most abundant adulterants.