Fingerprint-Based Drug Test Helps Airport and Border Control Teams Combat Body Packing

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Addressing the challenge of airline drug smuggling via body packing

Governments across the world work to stop harmful drugs entering their countries, with border force officials focusing on preventing drugs being smuggled in and reaching the streets. The role of airport security staff is particularly important here, especially as international smuggling gangs frequently use drug mules – often referred to as body packers – to carry illegal drugs inside their bodies on airline flights as a means of avoiding customs detection.

Body packing is an established means of smuggling drugs, first occurring in the early 1970s and becoming more and more prevalent. It’s a form of drug smuggling that specifically involves the swallowing or insertion of drugfilled packs inside the body. Primarily involving cocaine or heroin, the process involves considerable risk for the person involved, particularly due to the risk of acute drug toxicity resulting from a pack splitting or drug seepage.

Body packers typically swallow or insert between 50-100 drug-filled packets weighing around 10g each, concealing them in their intestinal tract. Carrying such large quantities of drugs inside their bodies can clearly lead to serious medical problems, including acute drug toxicity as well as complications such as bowel obstruction, bowel perforation and peritonitis. Unless addressed immediately, these conditions can prove either life-threatening or fatal.

Moving quickly to identify body packers at airports

Body packing is a real concern for airport and border control staff – not just because it is a widespread way of smuggling drugs, but also because of the potentially fatal risk of acute drug toxicity it poses to mules – should a drug packet split or seep internally.

For early body packers the process was highly dangerous, largely due to the failure of packing approaches such as condoms, latex gloves and balloons. Drug mule mortality rates were high, however high-quality latex packaging has now significantly reduced the chance of rupture, and increased the challenge for airport customs officials to identify body packers.

While airport and border control staff are trained to look for some of the indicators of body packing that can result from opioid toxicity – such as depressed mental status, lower respiration rates and constricted pupils, these aren’t always easy to spot. In reality, intelligence proves a key factor in drug mule identification – ideally potential body packers are highlighted before they even have a chance to board a plane. However, if border control staff have intelligence that a drug mule could be arriving on a particular flight, it’s important to have a way of moving quickly to confirm or rule out suspicions before they can pass through border control and enter a country.

Suspected body packers are typically sent to hospital for imaging investigations in order to confirm the presence of drugs in the body. Until now airport customs staff had to rely on traditional body fluid tests such as urine, which typically required specially prepared testing facilities, in order to gather intelligence on whether a passenger might be a drug mule. Urine tests can be costly to administer and take longer to screen potential drug users, making it a complex process for airport staff – and also potentially introducing delays into what could be a critical timeline for body packers.

 

Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Testing Product Brochure

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Intelligent Fingerprinting

Introducing Intelligent Fingerprinting – the fingerprint-based approach to drug testing that’s simply more convenient all round.

• Quick and easy – sample collection in seconds, results in 10 minutes

• Hygienic and portable – hassle-free drug testing anytime, almost anywhere

• Versatile and dignified – ideal for many different organisations and applications

• One-stop solution – from initial drug screening tests to laboratory confirmation

Our portable, hygienic system allows you to screen for commonly abused drugs with ease. Ten fingerprint samples are quickly collected onto a small, tamper-evident drug screening cartridge. This cartridge is then inserted into the DSR-Plus reader for analysis, with clear on-screen results provided in just 10 minutes.

Minimal training is required to use the system, with no need for special testing facilities or clinical waste disposal of used tests. This means it’s now easier and more efficient for organisations to carry out testing themselves, providing the flexibility to test wherever and whenever it’s needed and removing reliance on costly third-party collection services.

Thanks to its ease of use and portability, our system can always be close at hand to provide a reliable insight into potential drug misuse in the 16 hours or so before testing.

This short window of detection offers a better indication of likely impairment than traditional tests with longer detection periods. Many companies find this feature invaluable for fitness for duty testing in the workplace.

We are able support all your drug testing needs – from initial screening tests, to laboratory confirmation – and our diverse customer base includes employers, drug treatment services, family safeguarding organisations and even coroners. We also offer breath alcohol tests, providing a one-stop solution for all your drug and alcohol testing needs.

Our service doesn’t stop when you buy our system, as our expert customer services team and account managers are always on hand to offer training and ongoing support. For your convenience, we provide a choice of online or face-to-face training.

Find out all about the Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Testing System in our useful eight-page brochure. Click here to open the PDF brochure in a new window:

 

Viewpoint: Safer, Socially Distant Drug Testing For Schools

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Intelligent Fingerprinting

Fingerprint-based drug screening enables social distancing for both staff and pupils when testing, while also offering a more hygienic and dignified approach.

Most schools already operate a zero-tolerance approach to drug abuse, with clear policies stating that the supply, possession or use of drugs is unacceptable and not permitted on school premises, when wearing the school uniform or when representing the school. For some less serious cases, with mitigating circumstances for example, a head teacher may decide to suspend a pupil or issue a final warning, however the normal sanction for possession, use or supply of drugs is expulsion.

While schools may look to their PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) education activities to help raise and discuss potential drug abuse issues, they also recognise the need for a more proactive approach with suspected pupil drug use. Within their drug and alcohol policies, schools usually declare the right to ask pupils under suspicion to take a test and traditionally this typically means using a urine or saliva-based method.

Understandably, much of a school’s current health focus will be taken up with COVID-19 detection and testing. However, it is still essential to ensure adherence to school drug policies throughout the pandemic and beyond. Not surprisingly, traditional types of drug tests have proved difficult for organisations to administer under COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.

Depending on the type of drug test used, ensuring safe and hygienic drug testing during the pandemic is proving to be an increasingly complex challenge for organisations of all sizes. Adhering to the government’s guidance on social distancing, minimising time spent in close contact with others and wearing face coverings in an enclosed space, is difficult with traditional drug testing methods. Oral fluid tests require the collection of an individual’s saliva in close proximity, with no mask, while urine drug tests also involve the handling of messy and biohazardous samples.

Introducing a socially-distant drug testing approach for schools

In this situation, a much simpler and safer approach to drug testing would be useful. One that’s quick and hygienic and that will allow schools to enable social distancing for both staff and pupils during use. The portable Intelligent Fingerprinting drug screening system directly addresses this requirement. Fingerprint-based drug testing is quick and easy to use and can be completed while fully adhering to social distancing guidelines – maintaining the safety of both the tester and the pupil. It is a really simple and hygienic process as both parties can remain socially distant at all times. Pupils can self-administer their own fingerprint sample collection, while always keeping at least 2m away from the tester.

Socially-distant drug testing for schools – how it works

To begin, the pupil takes the fingerprint drug screening cartridge from its wrapper, presses all ten fingerprints in succession onto the sample collection pad, and then slides the tamper-evident locking cover across to protect the sample. The pupil then steps away to allow the staff member to collect the cartridge and insert it into a small, portable reader that analyses the test cartridge and provides a positive or negative screening result for each drug in the test in just 10 minutes.

The fingerprint collection approach is both dignified and hygienic, with no need for intrusive oral swabs or messy urine sample collection. This removes the need for close face-to-face contact and there’s no requirement for testers to handle biohazardous body fluids. In addition, because the process doesn’t require an oral swab, face masks can be worn throughout the process.

A more cost-effective approach to drug testing

Using in-house fingerprint-based testing instead of more traditional approaches such as urine testing can also unlock significant savings for schools. Immediate efficiency savings include being able to carry out testing quickly and easily within a classroom or an office. There’s also no longer any need to cordon off toilet facilities to dedicate their use to urine sample collection. In addition, because the system is portable and simple to use, schools can run their testing programme themselves in a safe and convenient location at their convenience and as required.

This in-house benefit also removes the need and risk of bringing external testing providers into the school if a test is required, and enables greater flexibility when tests need to be conducted quickly if the school has reason to suspect the use of drugs or substances. The fingerprint test’s ease-ofuse and rapid results can also make it a useful addition to support PHSE sessions around drug abuse. Similarly, using the system for educational or deterrent purposes can assist as part of a school’s proactive drug abuse policy.

Journal of Analytical Toxicology: Drug Screening Using the Sweat of a Fingerprint

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Intelligent Fingerprinting

New Research Confirms the Efficacy of Fingerprint-Based Drug Screening Technology

A peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology provides compelling evidence that fingerprint-based drug screening is a reliable and effective method for detecting drugs of abuse. The research, titled “Drug Screening using the Sweat of a Fingerprint: Lateral Flow Detection of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, Cocaine, Opiates and Amphetamine,” demonstrates that the sweat residue left in a fingerprint can be used to accurately identify the presence or absence of key drug groups.

The study focused on four common classes of drugs: Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cocaine, opiates, and amphetamine. Using lateral flow technology—an established format also used in devices such as pregnancy tests—the researchers successfully detected these substances through the sweat present in fingerprint samples. This non-invasive and hygienic method represents a promising alternative to traditional biological sample collection methods like urine, blood, or saliva.

Importantly, the research also highlights the successful application of this technology in post-mortem testing. The study included data from UK coroners who used the fingerprint-based method to detect drug use in deceased individuals. This expands the potential of fingerprint drug testing beyond workplace and roadside screening, demonstrating its viability for use in forensic and pathology settings.

The findings underscore the growing relevance of fingerprint-based testing in both living and post-mortem scenarios. As interest increases in fast, easy-to-administer drug tests that respect privacy and minimize biohazard risks, this research positions fingerprint sweat analysis as a practical solution for a wide range of real-world applications.

Read the article:

Drug Screening using the sweat of a fingerprint: Lateral flow detection of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cocaine, opiates and amphetamine
Hudson M., Stuchinskaya T., Ramma S., Patel J., Sievers C., Goetz S., Hines S., Menzies E., & Russell D. A.
Journal of Analytical Toxicology (2018), 10.1093/jat/bky068

 

Transport Operator: Drug screening for 21st century transport

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Intelligent Fingerprinting

Originally published in Transport Operator.

Dr Paul Yates, business development director at Intelligent Fingerprinting, examines how the advent of fingerprint-based testing technology could help tackle drug-driving.

Drug driving was thrown into the spotlight in the UK when new legislation was introduced inMarch 2015, making it unlawful to drive with eight illegal drugs and eight prescription drugs in the body above a specified level.

As a result, police officers can use a Home Office—approved ‘drugalyser’ to screen for cannabis and cocaine at the roadside, and screen for other illegal drugs, including ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and heroin, at the police station.

Since the legislation came into being, half of drivers stopped for suspected drug driving have tested positive, leading to 7,796 arrests for drug driving in England and Wales between March 2015 and April 2016.

Drivers who consume cannabis, the most commonly used illegal drug among UK adults, are two to six times more likely to have a road traffic collision than those who don’t and, if combined with alcohol, that risk rises to 16 times.

Amphetamines and methamphetamines may not be as widely used as cannabis, but the risk of a collision following consumption is higher than either cannabis or cocaine. In Great Britain it is estimated that drug driving accounts for up to 200 deaths every year.

Transport operators need to take action to minimise risk and safeguard themselves, their workforce and the general public against drug driving by their employees.

In an effort to deter employee drug use, many transport companies have introduced drug and alcohol policies, including screening protocols and procedures. These policies form part of an employee’s obligations.

An active policy which discourages drug use by employees and identifies potential issues early can be invaluable. However, a 2014 report from road safety charity Brake showed that more than half (57 per cent) of employers with staff that drive for work do not test for drugs.

In many cases, workplace drug screening policies apply to all employees, but more typically it is employees in safety—critical roles such as drivers who are subject to drug testing.

Screening can take place as part of pre—employment checks, after an accident or with reasonable suspicion of drug use, or randomly. According to the Brake report, the most common form of screening is random testing, used by 29 percent of employers.

The most widely used drug screening methods to provide evidence of recent drug use involve analysis of urine, oral fluid (saliva) or, less commonly blood samples. Of these methods urine is the most widely used by fleet providers.

Current drug screening methods have their limitations. Collection of invasive body fluids for drug testing is costly, time—consuming and difficult to administer on—site because of the need to set up specially prepared collection areas and provide trained, often gender— specific, collectors on site as well as specialist waste disposal facilities.

Intelligent Fingerprinting is developing what is thought to be the world’s first portable, fingerprint—based drug screening system. The system works by analysing fingerprint sweat to detect drug metabolites, which are chemicals produced by the body when it processes (metabolises) drugs of abuse.

The new drug screen requires the collection of a single fingerprint sample for analysis and detection of up to four drugs of abuse in one test. Collection of the fingerprint sample onto the test cartridge takes a few seconds and the cartridge is then inserted into a reader.

The reader analyses the fingerprint sweat for drug metabolites, providing a positive or negative result in less than 10 minutes and giving a simple pass or fail reading against pre—determined drug screening cut—off levels. The device automatically measures drug concentration against these cut—offs without the need for the operator to read test strip results or similar.

As the reader is portable, samples can be collected on—site for on—the—spot fitness for duty tests. Unlike body fluid drug screening, the test is completely non—invasive and presents no biohazard risk, so there is no need for specialist collection or sample disposal facilities.

The unique fingerprint—based drug screen is quick and easy to use, and fully portable. These benefits could result in an overall improvement in the effectiveness of the drug policies of fleet providers, in particular allowing truly random tests that discourage drug use whilst reducing the costs associated with the implementation of conventional body fluid drug screening solutions.

While drug—driving conviction rates hit the headlines and awareness of the prevalence of drug—driving continues to grow, many transport operators will no doubt be reviewing their HR processes to ensure their employee drug and alcohol policies are fit for purpose.

New emerging technologies such as the Intelligent Fingerprinting drug screening system can help to respect an employee’s requirements for privacy and dignity, while protecting their colleagues and ensuring public safety.

Rail Professional: A modern approach, written by Dr Paul Yates

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Writing for Rail Professional, Dr Paul Yates considers how new fingerprint-based, non-invasive drug screening technology could facilitate drug testing in the rail industry.

Drug use is more common among the UK workforce than you may think. According to figures from the Home Office, last year one in 12 working age adults (16-59) took an illicit drug (1). Department of Health figures show that almost one in 10 of the UK workforce admits to recent drug use (2). And a survey of medium to large-sized firms revealed that drugs and alcohol contribute to 26 per cent of workplace accidents which cost the UK £4 billion every year (3).

It is an offence for rail employees to carry out, and for railway employers to allow employees to carry out, safety-critical work while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This legislation is set out in Section 27 of the Transport and Works Act 1992, and is enforced by the British Transport Police (4). The term ‘drugs’ includes controlled drugs, often referred to as ‘prohibited’ or ‘illicit’ drugs or ‘drugs of abuse’. The term also includes other substances which can affect a person’s ability to perform their duties, including prescribed and over-the-counter medicines (5). The term ‘safety-critical’ does not just apply to driving trains, but to tasks performed throughout the rail industry by rail workers, signalling staff and many others. Drug misuse can be difficult to detect, with one in three UK employers saying they cannot identify when a worker is under the influence of drugs (6). In a safety-critical working environment such as the rail industry, screening to detect drug abuse is particularly important. Increasingly, even those employees who do not have safetycritical duties are expected to undergo drug testing (7).

As anyone working in the industry knows, passengers’ and colleagues’ lives depend on the alertness of railway employees, and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol can have catastrophic consequences. A public inquiry into the Cannon Street Station rail crash of 1991, in which two people were killed and over 500 injured, blamed the accident on driver error and ageing rolling stock(8). For reasons which were never established, the 25-year old driver, Maurice Graham, failed to brake properly causing the train to crash into the buffers, with tragic results. A drug test three days after the crash revealed traces of cannabis in Graham’s blood. And, while the inquiry found there was insufficient evidence to suggest that drug use had caused the accident, the inquiry report recommended the introduction of mandatory drug and alcohol tests for employees involved in safety accidents and called for the criminalisation of railway employees with safety responsibilities being impaired by alcohol or drugs. At the time of the accident it was illegal for railway staff to be under the influence of alcohol but there was no equivalent law for drugs. The inquiry’s recommendations were implemented through the passing of The Transport and Works Act 1992.

Pre-employment and random or unannounced screening can act as a deterrent to drug use. Drug testing is also used post-incident to investigate whether employees are culpable. Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) guidance advises that managers should periodically test staff carrying out safety-critical tasks. This should include both pre-planned testing as part of a periodic age-related medical and random or unannounced testing(9). RSSB advises that managers should test all persons appointed to posts involving safety-critical tasks before they first undertake them (9).

RSSB recommends that managers determine which drugs they should screen for based on a range of factors. These factors include whether a reasonably practicable test exists, the likelihood of a drug or type of drug being taken and the ability of a drug to impair work performance(9).

Strengths and limitations of existing drug tests

The most common drug screening methods involve analysis of urine, oral fluid (saliva), hair or blood samples. Of these methods, urine testing is the most widely used by train companies. With a usual detection window of up to two to four days, urine tests are low-cost but have the potential to be cheated using urine substitutes or adulterants. Oral fluid (saliva) testing is less invasive, and it has a shorter window of detection of up to one to two days but samples can also be adulterated. Hair testing provides the longest detection window, detecting drug use for up to three months previously depending on the length of hair tested. However, hair testing cannot give any indication of recent drug use. Blood testing is the most accurate way of confirming recent drug usage but it is also the most expensive and time-consuming, requiring sample collection by a qualified phlebotomist and laboratory analysis.

Most drug screening methods rely on the invasive collection of biohazardous body-fluid samples. This can prove costly, time-consuming and, for urine (the most commonly used test), difficult to administer. This is because of the need for trained, gender-specific collectors, specially prepared collection areas and specialist waste disposal facilities. Some of these methods also raise issues about respecting the privacy of the employee or potential employee being tested. For example, urine sample collections are usually observed to prevent sample adulteration or substitution, which can be undignified for both the employee and the observer.

The different issues associated with existing drug screening methods can reduce the rail manager’s ability to carry out effective drug screening and these drawbacks are most evident for random or unannounced screening where testing must be spontaneous and immediate in order to deter and detect drug use. It is clear that current drug screening methods have their limitations and an alternative, simpler and less invasive approach would improve drug screening programmes. Desirable drug test attributes would be a quick, safe and noninvasive collection method that is portable and easy to administer, with immediate and reliable test results.

New technology in development

We believe a new approach, developed in Britain, has the potential to change the way drug screening is carried out. The technology, brought to the market by Intelligent Fingerprinting, works by analysing fingerprint sweat to detect drug metabolites, the chemicals that are produced after a drug breaks down in the body. The fingerprint sample is collected within seconds, by simply pressing the finger onto a collection cartridge which is then inserted into a reader. The reader analyses the sweat in the fingerprint, providing a pass or fail for different drug groups in less than 10 minutes. It’s the world’s first portable, fingerprint-based drug screening system and presents the opportunity to screen for multiple drugs of abuse in one test.

This emerging technology could help the rail industry to keep up with increased drug prevalence among the UK workforce, and the accompanying regulations surrounding drug misuse in safety-critical areas. The rail industry can use new technology to respect workers’ requirements of privacy and dignity, while protecting employer liability and helping to ensure public safety. Drug screening programmes for the rail industry have the potential to become more cost-efficient and effective, serving as a true deterrent to drug use.

Originally published in Rail Professional.

References: 1. The Home Office, Drug Misuse: Findings from the 2014/15 Crime Survey for England and Wales (2015) 2. Department of Health, United Kingdom drug situation: annual report to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) 2012. https://www.cph.org.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2013/03/23779-FOCAL-POINT-REPORT2012-B5.pdf 3. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research: https://realbusiness.co.uk/article/26589- drugs-in-the-workplace-a-4bn-problem-thatemployers-ignore 4. Section 27 of the Transport & Works Act 1992 5. RSSB: Guidance on the Management of Drugs and Alcohol Issue two: December 2012 Rail Industry Guidance Note for GO/RT8070 (2012), p. 9. 6. Synergy Health survey: survey of 200 medium to large sized covering approximately 26,000 employees (2014): https://realbusiness.co.uk/ article/26589-drugs-in-the-workplace-a-4bnproblem-that-employers-ignore 7. Simon Robinson, Not a risk worth taking (2015): https://www.railpro.co.uk/railpro-magazine/ magazine-archives/june-2015/not-a-risk-worthtaking 8. HM Railway Inspectorate, A report of the collision that occurred on 8 January 1991 at Cannon Street Station (1992): https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/ docsummary.php?docID=177 9. RSSB Guidance on the Management of Drugs and Alcohol (2012).

Prof David Russell: Selected Publications

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Intelligent Fingerprinting

Our Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Prof David Russell, has published a number of research papers relating to the detection of drugs and drug metabolites in fingerprint sweat:

About Prof David Russell

Professor David Russell is an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK, renowned for his pioneering work in bioanalytical chemistry and nanotechnology-based diagnostics. His research has significantly advanced non-invasive drug detection methods, particularly through the analysis of fingerprint sweat.

In 2007, Professor Russell founded Intelligent Fingerprinting Ltd., a UEA spin-out company that developed the world’s first portable system for detecting drug use via fingerprint sweat. This innovative technology employs antibody-functionalised nanoparticles to identify drug metabolites in sweat residues, providing results within ten minutes. The method offers a dignified and efficient alternative to traditional drug testing, with applications in law enforcement, workplace safety, and rehabilitation services.

Beyond drug detection, Professor Russell co-founded Iceni Diagnostics Ltd. in 2014, focusing on carbohydrate-nanoparticle technology for diagnosing toxins and viruses. His contributions have been recognized with awards such as the Royal Society of Chemistry’s SAC Silver Medal. Professor Russell’s work exemplifies the translation of academic research into practical solutions with global impact.