MARYLAND– A new milestone has been reached for Maryland's DNA database in the ongoing effort to reduce crime, apprehend criminals, and exonerate the innocent.
Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, says that Maryland’s DNA database, has now recorded 10,000 positive comparisons, or “hits,” as they are commonly referred to. A positive comparison occurs when DNA obtained from a crime victim or scene is matched with either DNA from a known offender sample or DNA from another crime scene. Matches occur using CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, which enables access to both the Maryland DNA database and the National DNA database.
Last month, scientists at the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division forwarded information to investigators with Homeland Security Investigations and the Prince George’s County Police Department that the 10,000th positive DNA comparison through the use of Maryland’s DNA database was connected to an open 2020 drug case they are investigating.
MSP Officials say the case dates back to June 2020, when law enforcement interdicted a parcel containing a kilogram of fentanyl. During a subsequent search warrant at a location related to the investigation, law enforcement seized additional narcotics and drug distribution materials. During the search, a respirator that contained fentanyl residue was seized and subsequently swabbed for DNA. The DNA profile matched that of a male individual whose DNA was collected and added to the State of Maryland DNA Database after a previous conviction for a drug offense.
This hit demonstrates how the DNA database plays a crucial role in solving crimes from older unsolved cases as well as from cases that cross jurisdictions and borders. More specific details in this case cannot be made known at this time because the investigation is ongoing and the suspect has not been charged.
