A tool used to catch criminals — and clear the innocent — is proving its worth in Maryland.
The state’s 30-year-old DNA database has recorded its 10,000th “hit,” Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Woodrow Jones II announced Tuesday.
A “hit” happens when DNA from a victim of a crime or crime scene is matched with DNA from a known offender or another crime scene.
The 10,000th match relates to an unsolved drug case from 2020 involving a package that was intercepted by law enforcement and found to have contained one kilogram of fentanyl.
A respirator found during a search was swabbed for DNA, and the sample matched that of a man whose DNA profile was added to Maryland’s database after being found guilty of a drug offense.
That person has not been named and no charges have been filed yet. The case is being investigated jointly by Homeland Security officials and the Prince George’s County police.
“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,” MSP said in a news release.
State law requires all persons convicted of a felony, fourth-degree burglary, or breaking or entering of a vehicle to submit a DNA sample. As of this month, the database boasts over 141,000 samples from convicted offenders.
