ORLANDO — If a drug shipment tests at 80% purity in one location and 40% farther along a suspected trafficking route, investigators have a new question: Where is it being cut?
That’s the kind of lead 908 Devices wants agencies to develop from field testing. At IACP 2026, the company highlighted NIRLab, a flashlight-shaped narcotics analyzer that combines presumptive drug identification and purity analysis with connected reporting.
“One result in the field can be connected to many results in the field,” said John Johnson, vice president of product marketing and sales enablement at 908 Devices.
Johnson described how comparing those results across locations can help agencies spot changes in drug purity and decide where to focus investigative resources.
A familiar design for everyday drug encounters
NIRLab is designed for patrol officers encountering common street drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine.
Its flashlight-like shape and single-button operation are intended to make the device familiar to personnel who already carry similar equipment.
“In the officer’s hands, it’s a familiar tool,” Johnson said.
An officer points the device at a sample and initiates a scan. NIRLab uses near-infrared spectroscopy to analyze the material, providing presumptive identification and quantitative results for supported substances.
The device connects with a mobile app, where officers can view results. Those results also connect with a cloud platform for reporting and further analysis.
Johnson said the design is intended to reduce the training burden and make field testing accessible to officers during their regular assignments.
How it works: Analyzing a substance’s chemical fingerprint
NIRLab uses near-infrared light to collect information about a sample. The resulting spectral information is analyzed against reference data to help identify the substance.
Johnson contrasted that approach with colorimetric field tests, in which officers place a sample into a reagent pouch and interpret a color change.
With spectroscopy, the instrument produces digital analytical data that can be retained with the result.
“We can identify that chemical fingerprint against a library that has been backed by over 40,000 samples that have been also run on a GCMS most through an ISO 17025 accredited lab,” Johnson said.
For agencies, the distinction extends beyond how the test is performed. A digital result can be reviewed, incorporated into reporting and examined alongside results from other encounters.
NIRLab’s role is field screening: helping officers obtain information about a substance on scene while generating a record of the analysis.
Looking beyond identification to drug purity
Johnson emphasized purity analysis as a capability that can add context to an individual drug identification.
Knowing that a sample contains cocaine or methamphetamine answers one question. Measuring its concentration can help investigators examine how samples differ across locations or over time.
“What’s happening with purity? Is the cocaine getting cut?” Johnson said.
He offered a hypothetical example involving a shipment moving from Nogales toward Phoenix. If samples encountered along the route showed a change from higher to lower purity, that difference could give investigators a reason to examine where the drug was being diluted.
The measurements would provide a lead for further investigation, helping a task force decide where to focus attention.
Johnson also discussed cannabis analysis, including measuring THC concentration. That capability provides quantitative information about a sample rather than relying on appearance alone.
Connecting individual tests to local trends
The broader value of connected field testing becomes clearer when an agency reviews multiple results together.
Johnson described a hypothetical traffic stop in which an officer encounters baggies containing a white powder and uses NIRLab to test the material.
The result provides information for that encounter. Once recorded in the connected platform, it also becomes part of the agency’s larger collection of field-test data.
Supervisors could review those results for patterns, such as an increase in cocaine encounters in one part of the county or changes in methamphetamine purity.
Johnson said those patterns could prompt questions about a new supplier, a change in distribution or another development requiring investigation.
That connection allows agencies to examine information that might otherwise remain scattered across individual encounters and reports.
The purpose is to help command staff and investigators recognize changes, ask more focused questions and consider where to direct resources.
Where NIRLab fits within the broader toolset
Johnson distinguished NIRLab’s everyday field-testing role from other devices in the company’s portfolio.
The MX908 uses mass spectrometry for trace-level analysis, such as examining residue on a surface when a visible quantity of material is not available.
NIRLab is intended for testing the substances officers can see and encounter during routine drug enforcement.
Johnson also described VipIR, which combines Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for broader chemical identification.
That tool is intended for assignments such as customs and diversion investigations, where personnel may encounter precursors, cutting agents and other chemicals beyond common street drugs.
Testing the technology before deployment
Johnson encouraged agencies considering NIRLab to evaluate it using samples relevant to their own work.
“The first thing they want to do is test it,” he said.
He described a loan program through which departments can request a device for a week and assess its performance on their own drug samples.
Johnson said introductory training can be delivered virtually and typically takes about an hour. The mobile app and cloud connection then support viewing and managing the results officers collect.
For agencies, that evaluation provides an opportunity to assess both parts of NIRLab’s workflow: how easily an officer can perform a field test and how useful the resulting information is to supervisors and investigators.
Learn more at 908 Devices NIRLab.
