MONEY TALKS

Dealers Could Find It Hard To Wriggle Out Of Drugs Charges

WADS of banknotes handled by drugs traffickers carry significant
traces of the illegal substances, according to chemists at the
University of Bristol. This could help put the criminals behind bars.

American researchers have previously found telltale traces of cocaine
on dealers' banknotes ("White hot on green", New Scientist supplement,
4 October 1997, p 2). Now Jim Carter of the school of chemistry at
Bristol and his colleagues have shown that dealers leave significant
quantities of heroin and other drugs on the notes they handle. Their
research is published in the current issue of The Analyst (vol 124, p
103).

Faced with evidence that banknotes in their possession carry traces of
illegal drugs, suspected dealers frequently claim that the drugs must
have got onto the notes from another source. But this standard defence
might not be viable for much longer.

Carter and his colleagues compared the amount of drugs on notes seized
by customs officers from suspected heroin dealers with those in
general circulation. They were able to show that the notes handled by
suspected dealers were contaminated by several times as much heroin as
those in general circulation. "The chances of this happening by
accident would be like winning the lottery," says Carter.

The researchers compared nearly 100 bundles of seized notes with
bundles provided by the Bank of England. Analysis using a mass
spectrometer showed that the notes from only one of the bundles from
the bank contained a trace of heroin. But up to 24 per cent of the
seized notes may have been contaminated by people handling the drug.
Not only was contamination more frequent, but the amounts were larger,
as well.

More recent work by Carter and his colleagues suggests that cocaine
dealers could be identified by similar methods. They found that while
the cocaine on a note in general circulation will be measured in
picograms, notes taken from dealers are likely to have several
micrograms of cocaine on them. "It is almost usable quantities," he
says.