Characterization of the Source of Heroin by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

The sources of seized heroin can provide information on its manufacture and distribution. Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), 15 neutral/acidic characteristic target substances in illicit heroin products were determined. The analysis of these samples was completed by combining mathematical and statistical analysis. In all, 38 heroin samples from different cities were characterized by combining case information, relevant subgroups, and principal component analysis (PCA) results. The samples were initially classified using principal component analysis (PCA). The Pearson distance was used to calculate the correlation between samples in each group separately, and r > 0.98 was selected as the threshold value to screen out 11 groups with strong correlations. It was surmised from the case information that the origin or processing methods of heroin seized from different cities may differ. This study applies correlation analysis to relate the seized heroin from different cases to the same upline or network, providing insight for the investigation.