NCJ Number
131271
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 36 Issue: 4 Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 1224-1228
Date Published
1991
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Ethylbenzoylecgonine, the ethyl homolog of cocaine, was identified in illicit cocaine samples that had been brought to Canada dissolved in bottles of liquor.
Abstract
The cocaine exhibits were seized during an undercover drug enforcement operation. Cocaine was extracted from the liquor in the imported bottles and converted to its hydrochloride salt. Gas chromatographic and mass spectroscopic analysis of these samples revealed the presence of the ethylbenzoylecgonine which is not normally found in illicit cocaine. Its presence resulted from a transesterification of 20 percent of the cocaine to its ethylated homolog during the prolonged exposure to ethanol in the bottles. The coextraction and conversion of the homolog to its hydrochloric salt, along with the cocaine product, suggested it was a component of the final illicit product. 3 figures and 3 references (Author abstract modified)