Deseret News Drug agents may seize cocaine arriving in Miami, but often they are uncertain where the narcotics originated. Even knowing where the smuggler set out isn't enough. A shipment could have been grown in Colombia or simply funneled through cartels there.
Cocaine is cocaine, indistinguishable one batch from another that is, until now.
The same technology, perfected in the laboratory of biologist James R. Ehleringer, can detect the origin of counterfeit notes or tell whether the ancient Anasazi of southern Utah used reservoirs to grow their corn crops. It can sniff out adulteration in food, showing whether that sweet taste in imported honey is the real stuff or cheap corn syrup added in. It can even show whether the destruction of rain forests in Brazil is contributing to the greenhouse effect. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is so impressed that it is building its own laboratory based on the U.'s and may hire away a top technician for the facility. Va. The DEA has acquired the instruments to analyze isotopes and is working to get the lab operational.