Home > Technical note: identification of the novel benzodiazepine 3-hydroxy desalkylgidazepam within PSNI tablet seizures in northern Ireland.

Jeffers, Maurice Robert and Greer, William Robert (2026) Technical note: identification of the novel benzodiazepine 3-hydroxy desalkylgidazepam within PSNI tablet seizures in northern Ireland. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 121, 103187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2026.103187.

External website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/...

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) drug seizures from 6 locations yielded 8 separate items containing tablets which on chemical analysis were found to contain the previously unreported designer benzodiazepine (DBZD) 3-hydroxy desalkylgidazepam. The tablets were similar in appearance to previously encountered illicit diazepam tablets, being either yellow or blue in colour, and marked 'MSJ'. The items were all seized from within the greater Belfast area between April and September 2025. Initial structure elucidation was by gas chromatography (GC)/nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) in collaboration with Queens University Belfast (QUB). These analyses were followed by confirmation at Forensic Science Northern Ireland (FSNI) employing UPLC coupled to HRMS and using a certified reference material.


Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
New psychoactive substance
Intervention Type
Prevention, Harm reduction
Date
6 June 2026
Identification #
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2026.103187
Publisher
Elsevier Science
Volume
121
EndNote

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