Collecting Illegal Drugs as Crime

Collecting Illegal Drugs as Crime Evidence:

One of the most important factors for a successful criminal investigation and prosecution process is the kind of evidence at the crime scene. The collection of evidence includes identifying, gathering, and preserving illegal drugs to use during the investigation and prosecution process. There are various types of evidences collected at a crime scene such as physical evidence, trace evidence, drug evidence, and biological. Drug evidence primarily consists of legal and illegal substances, which may be relatively simple or complex. Simple drug evidence includes small amounts of vegetable matter or powder whereas complex evidence consists of large-scale clandestine laboratories that produce illegal substances. Drug evidence can be gathered in various ways like through possession of substances, manufacturing the products, cultivating drug plants, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Identifying, Collecting, and Preserving Illegal Drugs as Crime Evidence:

There are general guidelines that items of evidence should adhere to during identification, collection, and preservation in measures that promote and maintain integrity. These guidelines are vital for the effective use of the evidence in criminal investigation and prosecution. In relation to the use of illegal drugs as criminal evidence, these guidelines are regarded as the major issues. Therefore the major issues regarding identifying, gathering, and preserving illegal drugs as crime evidence include & #8230;.

Type of Packaging:

Packaging of illegal drugs to use as crime evidence is primarily dependent on the type of evidence and the laboratory examination to be performed (Wampler, 2011). In addition to selecting the most appropriate means for packaging it, there is need to consult the section to submit the specific type of evidence. However, every packaging of illegal drugs needs to be clean and unused and includes several types of packaging such as paper bags, metal cans, plastic buckets, and glass vials. The other vital aspect of packaging illegal drugs for use as crime evidence is that every recovered substance from the crime scene should be placed in a paper container that can be sealed and labeled. When identifying, collecting, and preserving loose material that can leak and spill like marijuana, the substances should be properly sealed. Some examples of illegal drugs should be taken to the laboratory in a sealed package for examination ("Evidence Collection Guidelines," n.d.).

Sealing:

The other major issue in identifying, collecting, and preserving illegal drugs for evidence in criminal investigations is sealing. There is need for the evidence to be sealed properly to ensure that it has not been compromised, altered, or lost during preservation. In most cases, the individual packaging the evidence is required to initial and date across the seal as a means for making it tamper-proof and detectable if interfered with. Some of the most common ways for packaging and sealing the evidence incorporate the use of heat seals such as ask tapes and paper clips and evidence tapes like staples.

While sealing can be done through various ways, it's an important part in the process because the submission of evidence in the laboratory for examination is evaluated on whether an acceptable seal was used. In cases where improperly sealed substances are submitted for examination, the submitting officer or laboratory staff should seal and initial the evidence.