Mass Spec's pioneering work on banknote analysis led the BBC to our offices to learn how we’ve managed to compile a vast database of drugs on banknotes. Virtually all of the bank notes in circulation in the world today have illicit drugs on them and if you removed all the cocaine off of the banknotes in circulation in the UK for instance, you would have collected 160kg with a street value of £5million!
By using their banknote database as a comparison tool, mass spec can put the findings of drugs from seized banknotes into much needed context. The on-going use of this forensic approach has assisted in the seizure of hundreds of millions of pounds, and the successful prosecution of individuals connected to drug trafficking, and money laundering associated with the illicit drug trade.
Mass Spec uses the same approach to design and build a mobile mass spectrometer based contraband detector, which is primarily deployed for explosives detection. Have you ever wondered how the police and security authorities secure high-risk events? Mass Spec has one of the first mobile mass spectrometer detectors to be developed in the world and is now used by law enforcement and government bodies to ensure that public buildings, stadiums and transport can be tested for the presence of explosives and other hazardous substances.
You can see the BBC clip here
Image Credit: © Lance Hiley, Mass Spec