Can Wastewater Analysis Help Police Bust Criminals?

The wastewater industry may be an asset in helping law enforcement officials track down drug dealers.

Researchers from Switzerland decided to test the limits of wastewater analysis as a way to beat crime. They published their findings in Forensic Science this month. The writers noted that although wastewater analysis has been studied as a way to understand drug use, it has rarely been studied as a tool for fighting crime. As the study put it, “The approach's potential to deliver pertinent information for law enforcement has been discussed only limitedly.”

This study focused on cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine in two cities in Switzerland. The researchers conducted a wastewater analysis and linked it to intelligence from law enforcement officials.

“During the study, the police arrested two dealers, and analysis of phone records and interviews with users suggested that the dealers sold about 6 grams a day between them — about half the total market. This supported police intelligence that heroin, unlike other drugs such as methamphetamine, was supplied by a small number of local dealers who could be effectively targeted,” Nature reported, noting that “you can flush, but you can’t hide.”

The researchers drew the conclusion that wastewater is an effective tool for helping law enforcement address crime.

“Combined with intelligence resulting from police work (e.g., investigations and informants), wastewater analysis can contribute to deciphering the structure of drug markets, as well as the local organisation of trafficking networks,” the study said.

“The results presented here constitute valuable pieces of information, which can be used by law enforcement to guide decisions at strategic and/or operational levels. Furthermore, intelligence gathered through investigations and surveillance constitutes an alternative viewpoint to evaluate results of wastewater analysis,” the study said.

Researchers have been drawing on wastewater analysis to understand drug trends for about ten years, according to Nature.

“Drugs broken down in the body leave telltale traces of metabolites, some of which can be found, quantified and back-calculated to work out how much of the original substance was present. Combined with a reliable estimate of the number of people who have, well, contributed a sample to the sample, the analysis can offer guidance on average consumption and how it changes,” the report said.

Wastewater analysis may be more useful for tracking certain drugs compared to others.

“Though useful for spotting certain drugs, this process does not always give scientists a complete picture of drug consumption. The approach works well “for drug epidemiologists on the lookout for the usual suspects: cocaine, heroin, amphetamine and so on. It is far less efficient, though, at gauging use patterns of new lab-made drugs such as so-called ‘legal highs’ — chemicals with effects similar to illicit drugs, but not always explicitly forbidden,” Motherboard reported.

To read more about the tools used to analyze wastewater visit Water Online’s Wastewater Analysis Solutions Center.