A pandemia de COVID-19 impactou a produção da perícia criminal e as apreensões de maconha e cocaína no Estado do Piauí?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed sanitary restrictions that affected several essential services, including criminal forensics and public security activities. This study aimed to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic influenced forensic production and the seizure of cannabis (marijuana) and cocaine in the state of Piauí, Brazil. This is an observational, retrospective, and descriptive-analytical study based on secondary data obtained from official forensic reports issued by the Criminalistics Institute of the Civil Police of the State of Piauí. Reports positive for cocaine and cannabis from January 2018 to December 2021 were analyzed, covering two pre-pandemic years (2018–2019) and the first two years of the pandemic (2020–2021). During the study period, 5,517 forensic reports were issued. A significant increase in the number of reports was observed in 2019 compared to 2018 (p < 0.001), followed by significant reductions of 18.3% in 2020 (p < 0.05) and 34.2% in 2021 (p < 0.01) when compared to 2019. Regarding drug seizures, 2019 presented the highest total volume, with a significant increase of 98.7% compared to 2018 (p < 0.001). However, no statistically significant differences were observed in the total percentages of drug seizures between the pandemic years and the pre-pandemic year of 2019. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted forensic production in Piauí but did not result in statistically significant changes in the volume of marijuana and cocaine seizures, indicating adaptations by law enforcement and the illicit drug market during the pandemic.

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