Drug smuggling using clothing impregnated with cocaine

A case study is presented where a woman travelling from South America to the Republic of Ireland was detained at Dublin Airport and articles of clothing she had in her luggage were found to be impregnated with cocaine. The study shows that the amount of powder recovered from the garments was approximately 14% of the total weight of the garments. The cocaine was in the form of cocaine hydrochloride and the purity was approximately 80%. An examination of the garments under filtered light highlighted the areas exposed to cocaine and indicated that the method of impregnation was by pouring liquid containing cocaine onto the clothing.