Fuel smuggling investigation: Simple differentiation between Brazilian and Venezuelan fuels (diesel oil and gasoline) based on their biofuel content by GC/MS and FTIR

Abstract

Fuel smuggling across borders is a persistent criminal activity observed in numerous countries worldwide. In Brazil, particularly, illegal fuel imports, mainly diesel oil and gasoline, primarily originate from Venezuela. The main driver behind this criminal activity is the significant price gap, as Venezuela currently (October 2024) offers the cheapest diesel oil and the third cheapest gasoline worldwide. Nowadays, Brazilian diesel and gasoline are priced at 270 and 32 times higher, respectively, than Venezuela's prices, making this criminal enterprise highly lucrative. Therefore, this Technical Note aims to provide details of analyses by GC/MS (Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry) and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) to differentiate between Venezuelan and Brazilian fuels (diesel oils and gasolines), in order to contribute to smuggling investigations. This is accomplished by identifying the presence or absence of mandatory additives in Brazilian fuels, such as the biofuels biodiesel and ethanol, whose commercialization without these additives is prohibited in Brazil, but they are not components of Venezuelan fuels. The methodology presented can be applied to the most common cases found in Brazil, which are those involving smuggling without subsequent adulteration. Considering that GC/MS and FTIR are widely available instrumental techniques found in many forensic laboratories around the world, this approach could be useful in other countries facing this type of smuggling at their borders, especially when fuels exhibit differences based on the biofuels added to their composition. Therefore, there is a strong interest in disseminating this simple methodology.

Keywords

• fuel smuggling
• gasoline
• diesel oil
• GC/MS
• FTIR