Vanitha Kunalan

Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation - Malaysia | MOSTI · Department of Chemistry

Ecstasy tablets, a type of common street drug originally consisting of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), provide stimulant and hallucinogen psychoactive effects. They are frequently found in nightclubs, musical festivals or other recreational events believed to create a relaxing experience for the users. From a forensic perspective, when th...

Introduction: Fingermarks left at a crime scene can indicate the presence of an individual and his/her involvement in the crime. Fingermarks, usually invisible, can appear on any surface and may be contaminated by any exogenous substances, including drug substance. Recovery of fingermarks contaminated by drug substance is crucial to link an individ...

Drugs-facilitated crimes (DFCs) involve the incapacitation of victims under the influence of drugs. Conventionally, a drug administration act is often determined through the examination of biological samples; however, dry residues from any surface, such as drinking glass if related to a DFC could be a potential source of evidence. This study was ai...

Presently, investigations of drug‐facilitated crimes (DFCs) rely on the detection of substances extracted from biological samples following intake by the victim. However, such detection requires rapid sampling and analysis prior to metabolism and elimination of the drugs from the body. In cases of suspected DFCs, drug‐spiked beverage samples, wheth...

Illicit methamphetamine is the most widely manufactured amphetamine-type of stimulants worldwide. A relatively simple manufacturing procedure had resulted in the creation of manufacturing sites in a variety of premises and structures, requiring forensic investigation. This study was aimed at developing an electrochemical detection technique to dete...

Drug facilitated crimes (DFCs) involve the incapacitation of a victim due to the administration of a single drug or a combination of drugs. Traditionally, biological samples are collected from a victim and analysed to provide evidence of drug administration. However, the rapid metabolism of many such drugs together with delays in analysis can compr...

Erimin-5 tablets containing benzodiazepine as an active ingredient are an abused illicit drug. Frequently, these tablets can be identified through physical observation by experienced analysts, and they are analysed by chromatography to determine their identities and impurities in forensic laboratories. Further analytical information on such Erimin-...

Heroin clandestine laboratories have been a feature of the Malaysian illicit drug scene soon after the abuse of heroin emerged in 1972. The first few heroin clandestine laboratories which synthesised heroin via the acetylation of imported morphine were uncovered in 1973 and 1977. By the mid 1980s this type of laboratories was replaced by heroin cut...

Raves and night clubs are always associated with recreational drugs, which are also referred as 'club drugs'. Dissolving illegal drugs, such as ketamine, into liquid forms to be disguised as bottled soft drinks is one of the current drug concealment methods. This study is aimed to develop a method for detection and quantitation of ketamine containe...

This research involves repetitive synthesis of methylamphetamine using a non-metal reductions method, the three methods most accessible to clandestine chemists in Malaysia. Basic impurities were extracted separately and analysed by gas chromatograph mass spectrometry (GCMS) using DB-5 columns. The GCMS method was able to discriminate all the three...

This article research on clandestine drug laboratory focuses on its emergence, types, factors and problems. Clandestine drug laboratories, i.e. settings with a combination of sufficient apparatus and chemicals for the manufacture of a controlled substance, were frequently reported in East and South-East Asia. In Malaysia, a number of large scale la...

This paper focuses on the determination of route specific impurities produced when methylamphetamine is synthesised using the Birch reduction. Previous work available in the scientific literature reported only one route specific impurity using ephedrine hydrochloride as the starting material. In this paper we investigated the impurity profiles of m...

The synthesis of methylamphetamine hydrochloride from l-ephedrine or d-pseudoephedrine hydrochloride via reduction with hydriodic acid and red phosphorus was investigated. Eighteen batches of methylamphetamine hydrochloride were synthesized in six replicate batches using three different reaction times. This allowed the investigation of the variatio...

Sixty-four groups of Erimin-5 tablets from 23 sources were profiled based on their dye and active ingredients. Dye of the tablets was extracted using 5% acetic acid and subjected to TLC separation using isopropanol/ammonia (4:1) as the solvent system while the active ingredients were analysed using GCMS and diluents were analysed using FTIR. All ta...

In clandestine drug laboratories, precursors, chemicals and solvents are used during the synthesis of drugs. At the scene, identification of precursors and chemicals is not sufficient and conclusive by colour tests. Using portable devices such as Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (ATR-FTIR) and Raman Spectrometer,...

Impurity profiling of seized methamphetamine can provide very useful information in criminal investigations and, specifically, on drug trafficking routes, sources of supply, and relationships between seizures. Particularly important is the identification of "route specific" impurities or those which indicate the synthetic method used for manufactur...

Nimetazepam is very frequently submitted to the forensic laboratory for analysis and therefore a traceable nimetazepam reference standard is required. However, nimetazepam reference standard is expensive and difficult to purchase. We described how a relatively pure sample of nimetazepam (ca. 98%) was further purified, authenticated and assayed agai...