ABU DHABI, 15th May, 2023 (WAM) — The Centre of Forensic and Digital Sciences of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) has achieved a world first by discovering a new synthetic cannabinoid narcotic substance, unknown in the world until recently. The Centre determined its composition, gave it a name (ADB-5'Br-PINACA), registered it in an international database under the name of the ADJD’s Laboratory of Chemistry, and published a scientific document (Analysis Guide) on the website of an international centre specialised in the identification of new types of synthetic drugs.
Yousef Saeed Alabri, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, said that this achievement adds to the ADJD's glowing record of achievements, driven by the wise directives of the UAE's enlightened leadership headed by President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the direct supervision of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. The ADJD has achieved steady development and improvement while taking advantage of modern technologies and employing them in keeping pace with the evolutions, so as to ensure the efficiency of the criminal justice system and to strengthen the presence of ADJD in the global judicial arena, he added.
Yousef Alabri praised the efforts made by the team working at the Laboratory of Chemistry, which managed to discover this new narcotic substance and register it in global databases in the name of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, thus bringing global reputation to the UAE. This, he said, is in line with the Judicial Department's Strategic Plan 2021-2023, which stresses the value of working with international partners to help maintain social security and stability.
On his part, Saeed Alamoudi, Director of the Centre of Forensic and Digital Sciences, explained that the achievement of this scientific breakthrough came after initially determining the composition and name of the new narcotic substance in September 2022, and registering it with an international database in the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), under the name of the ADJD's laboratory of chemistry. Then a collaborative work was initiated on this subject with the Centre for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE) in the United States of America, which is one of the centres specialised in the discovery and identification of types of new psychoactive substances. It was possible to confirm the nature of the substance after its production, publish a scientific document (analytical guide), assign a permanent name to the substance, and publish the discovery on the website of the International Centre, he added.