Analytical instruments based on InfraRed Absorption Spectroscopy (IRAS) and Gas Chromatography (GC) are today available only as bench-top instrumentation for forensic labs and bulk analysis. Within the 'DIRAC' project funded by the European Commission, we are developing an advanced portable sensor, that combines miniaturized GC as its key chemical separation tool, and IRAS in a Hollow Fiber (HF) as its key analytical tool, to detect and recognize illicit drugs and key precursors, as bulk and as traces. The HF-IRAS module essentially consists of a broadly tunable External Cavity (EC) Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL), thermo-electrically cooled MCT detectors, and an infrared hollow fiber at controlled temperature. The hollow fiber works as a miniaturized gas cell, that can be connected to the output of the GC column with minimal dead volumes. Indeed, the module has been coupled to GC columns of …