Ecstasy tablets : batch matching for forensic drug intelligence purposes in Malta

Abstract

There have been attempts over many years to collect visual data of ‘ecstasy’ tablets, such as the logo project of Europol, where a large number of ’ecstasy’ tablet logos were collected and where various characteristics such as the logo, size, shape and inactive ingredients, as well as the pharmacological content and country of seizure, were collected: websites such as www.ecstasydata.org reported this information. There is less information available in the literature about the use of an ‘ecstasy’ tablet’s colour, mass, diameter and thickness for intelligence purposes. Some research has focused on the use of microscopes and comparative microscopes in order to determine tablet shape; to measure physical features such as tablet width, thickness and angle of break-lines when present; and to compare the damage marks transferred by the punches to illicit tablets. However, Zingg, Marquis et al. and Sherlock et al. have focused on the physical parameters (break-line, colour, shape, mass, diameter and thickness) in order to establish the characteristics of ‘ecstasy’ tablets. These features were found to be useful for drug intelligence purposes and to link or differentiate between batches of ‘ecstasy’ tablets.