Brno-made drug detector could transform police investigations worldwide
Researchers in Brno have developed a portable device that does more than identify illegal drugs. It can also trace their origin and connect samples to previous cases, offering investigators valuable new intelligence. The technology has already attracted interest from police in both Czechia and the United States.
The device can not only identify illegal drugs but also determine their origin and link them to previous cases. The technology could help police and other security agencies combat drug trafficking more effectively. Its developers from the startup Lightly Technologies and Mendel University in Brno are now preparing to test it in real-world conditions, while both Czech and U.S. police have already expressed interest.
Monika Štěpánová of Lightly Technologies and Mendel University takes a pill dispenser and a device resembling a small black speaker from her bag. In reality, it is designed to analyse unknown substances: "When we don't have access to controlled substances, we simulate the technology using medicines purchased from a pharmacy," says the researcher.
"You can take any tablet and simply wipe it on a test strip. You then insert a cartridge into the device, and within five to ten minutes you have the result," Monika Štěpánová explains as she launches the software that processes the sample. "If we found fentanyl, cocaine or heroin, the device would identify the active substance and even determine the correct producer," she adds.
According to Lukáš Nejdl of Lightly Technologies and the Faculty of Agronomy at Mendel University, the device is capable of analysing a broad range of substances:
"The instrument has been designed to test all pharmacologically significant substances, including medicines, pharmaceuticals, drugs, poisons and other toxic compounds."
Useful at borders and airports
According to the developers, identifying a drug is only part of what makes the technology unique. Its key advantage is the ability to compare findings and search for links between different cases: "It can connect individual shipments and production batches, something no other portable device in the world can do," Nejdl says.
In addition to determining a sample's composition, the device can compare it with previous cases and identify a common origin. Such information could prove crucial for investigators.
"Particularly in the case of imported drugs, typically cocaine, it is important for police to know where they originated. This information can support international cooperation and intelligence-sharing on criminal groups," explains Lucie Šmoldasová, spokesperson for the Czech National Drug Headquarters.
The developers are currently working on a smaller, fully portable version of the device. They also plan to begin serial production so it can be supplied to law enforcement agencies as soon as possible. "The device also has potential for use at airports and border crossings. We are in discussions with the Customs Administration and are carrying out extensive testing with the Czech police," Nejdl says.
Potential for worldwide use
Police already use a variety of portable instruments and laboratory methods to identify unknown substances. However, according to Lubor Fojtášek of the Institute of Criminalistics of the Police of the Czech Republic, each of them has limitations.
"If there were a technology capable of eliminating these limitations, one that was robust, reliable, properly validated and able to analyse any substance in different sample types, it would undoubtedly be a major benefit," Fojtášek says.
The device, originally developed at the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry of Mendel University, is now set to undergo field testing, including at music festivals and in prisons. Investigators in the United States have already expressed interest, and the developers believe it could eventually become a standard tool for police forces around the world.
"If a special agent is on an operation and discovers an unknown substance, they can place it in the device and within five to ten minutes know what it is, whether it has been encountered before, and what or whom it may be connected to," Štěpánová says.
