DENVER – Across the country, law enforcement agencies are confronting an increasingly complex drug landscape. Fentanyl has splintered into hundreds of analogs, nitazene compounds are emerging with alarming potency and overdose scenes now often involve multiple substances at once.
Yet while the threat has evolved, many of the tools that officers carry into the field have not. Presumptive test kits can misfire. Detection instruments often say only that “something’s there.” And by the time lab results confirm what that something is, suspects have moved on and critical intelligence has gone cold.
In this new environment, agencies need to know exactly what they’re dealing with – not days from now, but in minutes. The ability to accurately identify narcotics, even in trace amounts, directly at the scene can mean the difference between an open investigation and a missed opportunity.
That’s where 908 Devices steps in. The company has taken the gold standard of laboratory science and made it deployable on the street. At this year’s IACP conference, 908 Devices’ vice president of marketing, John Johnson, demonstrated how two of its flagship products – the MX908 handheld mass spectrometer and the VipIR 3-in1 spectroscopy analyzer – are helping agencies “make the invisible visible” and bring laboratory precision to front-line operations.
What it does
When Johnson talks about the MX908, he starts with outcomes, not specs. “This is a premium drug investigation tool – the only one law enforcement can have out in the field to do trace-level analysis,” he said.
The MX908 miniaturizes a forensic chemistry staple – mass spectrometry – into a rugged handheld device that gives investigators a lab-grade answer in about 60 seconds. “It actually gives them an identity,” Johnson said. “It tells them, this is fentanyl, this is carfentanil.”
That level of clarity sets it apart. “A dog doesn’t bark five times for cocaine and three for heroin,” Johnson explained. “It just barks. Similarly, with IMS, you know something’s there. This confirms what it is by providing a molecular identity.”
For investigators, that confirmation translates directly into action. “They don’t have to wait for a laboratory result,” he said. “They don’t have to stop their investigation. They can keep moving down the investigative pathway.”
Why it matters
The MX908’s defining advantage is its ability to reveal what can’t be seen. “Trace-level analysis is being able to make the invisible visible,” Johnson said. Every time bulk drugs are handled or moved, trace material rides along. Even if an informant transfers the drugs and drives away clean, the trunk liner or door pull will not be. Officers can swab those surfaces and the MX908 will identify the narcotic – or, when a brand-new variant appears, classify its drug family.
That early flag lets agencies alert labs and medical partners to start testing for nitazenes or increase naloxone stock when carfentanil potency spikes.
How agencies use it
Those reports feed directly into the MX908 app. Currently 908 Devices offers a cloud-based reachback dashboard, allowing state agencies to aggregate data from multiple units. “In the state of Ohio, they can see everything that’s happened with all 60 units all around the state,” Johnson said. “Tennessee and Texas do the same thing, sharing trends with EMS and medical examiners to align tox screens, forensic testing and Narcan stocking.”
Corrections has become the fastest-growing user community. Intake areas and mail rooms face meth-laced paper, synthetic cannabinoids and aerosolized drugs. “Officer intuition is the best sensor,” Johnson said. “This just confirms it. That card with a family picture that feels off – we can show it was printed with meth.” The same trace advantage helps patrol and interdiction teams during trash pulls when only a rag or wrapper remains.
Two tools, one picture
While the MX908 excels at invisible residues and field identifications, the recently launched VipIR fills in the rest of the picture. Designed for interdiction teams, hazmat units and forensic labs, VipIR uses FTIR and Raman spectroscopy plus proprietary Smart Spectral Processing technology in one workflow to identify bulk materials, cutting agents and precursors.
“Usually you have one technology and then another and go through a multiple sampling process,” Johnson said. “VipIR combines three in one analysis from just one sample.” With a database of about 39,000 chemicals, VipIR can analyze complex mixtures, identifying not only the active narcotic but also the additives that reveal how a batch was produced.
Used together, MX908 and VipIR provide a complete operational view – from trace residues on a suspect vehicle to bulk seizures at a border crossing. “These technologies together give them a complete operational picture of every kind of drug situation in their state,” Johnson said.
Implementation in the field
States including Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia are already deploying these tools in coordinated programs. Virginia’s Operation Free, Johnson noted, started by using the MX908 in corrections to identify contraband entering through mail, then traced the supply chain outward to dealers. “It’s become kind of a statewide program that has helped them very quickly get ahead of the curve,” he said, adding that early adopters have reported significant reductions in overdose deaths as real-time data improves response.
908 Devices also works closely with state labs to validate findings and identify emerging compounds. “We give them access to data an officer wouldn’t get,” Johnson said. “We were the first to identify xylazine in Ohio, the first to identify nitazene in South Carolina.”
Funding and support
Advanced field technology can be costly, but Johnson highlighted a key partnership: “Working with Lexipol and the grant program has been tremendous,” he said. “Without that program, a lot of these technologies are out of reach.”
Through Police1 webinars and the Lexipol grants database, agencies can find funding sources and get help writing justifications. “It’s a seamless service,” Johnson said. “We can point them to the grants that are available, help them shape the justification and, if needed, connect them with support for the application itself.”
| DOWNLOAD: The emerging threat of nitazenes in the synthetic opioid crisis (white paper)
| LOCATE FUNDING: On-demand webinar: Unlocking public safety grants and funding in 2025
The bottom line
Fentanyl’s evolution into carfentanil and nitazenes has turned a border crisis into what Johnson calls “a Main Street crisis.” In that environment, tools that collapse the lab-to-street gap – and connect the dots across agencies – matter more than ever.
MX908 brings the precision of mass spectrometry to the point of contact. VipIR expands that picture to bulk materials and mixtures. Together, they help law enforcement and corrections leaders act faster, understand emerging threats and back every decision with defensible science.
“Bringing a gold-standard tool to bear with law enforcement, with the ease of use that allows them to make the invisible visible – that’s what we do very, very well,” Johnson said. “When it comes to the fentanyl crisis, that’s where we really stand out.”
Key specs
MX908 handheld mass spectrometer:
- High-pressure mass spectrometry (HPMS) technology for nanogram-level detection.
- Identifies narcotics, fentanyl analogs, nitazenes, synthetic cannabinoids, CWAs and TICs.
- Solids, liquids, vapors and surface swabs.
- ~60-second analysis time.
- Bluetooth/USB connectivity MX908 app and reachback dashboards available to state agencies.
- MIL-STD-810G rated; approx. 4 lb; six-hour battery life.
VipIR bulk chemical analyzer:
- Dual FTIR + Raman spectroscopy for single-sample analysis.
- 39,000-compound library covering narcotics, precursors and cutting agents.
- Works with powders, tablets, liquids, gels and mixtures.
- 30–90-second analysis time.
- USB and network-ready; integrates with Team Leader app.
- Ruggedized casing with rechargeable or AC power options.
Learn how 908 Devices turns lab precision into field-ready intelligence:
