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Drug Situation: Over the past several years, North Carolina has experienced a significant increase in drug-trafficking activity. This increased activity is due in part to an unprecedented influx of foreign nationals into the state and, secondarily, to the network of U.S. Interstate highways connecting North Carolina to northern Georgia and elsewhere along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. North Carolina has one of the fastest growing populations: It is currently the 10 th most populated state in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau had estimated the population at nearly 9.1 million during 2007 and projected that by 2025 the state will have 11.4 million residents, ranking it as the 8 th largest state in the nation. One of the factors fueling the population growth is the especially high rate of migration of Spanish-speaking, specifically Mexican, nationals to the state. The Mexican population had traditionally been a migrant population that worked in the agriculture-based industries, but now is a permanent segment of the population, capitalizing on the many job opportunities available in the state. Though most immigrants themselves are not involved in drug trafficking, their presence allows Mexican drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs) to conceal their activities within immigrant communities in numerous North Carolina counties, frequently conducting local parceling to mid-level Caucasian and African-American distributors as well as to out-of-state distributors. Mexican DTOs most commonly transport and distribute cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin.

Cocaine: North Carolina is a destination state for cocaine hydrochloride (HCl), as well as a staging and transshipment point to the more northern states along the Eastern Seaboard and in the mid-west, including Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cocaine HCl is readily available and major traffickers take advantage of the state's interstate highways, which are major transshipment routes for cocaine HCl being transported from source areas to other states. These major source areas are Texas, California, and Arizona, with major sources of supply being traffickers based in Mexico. Cocaine HCl is usually shipped in private or commercial vehicles. Cocaine HCl shipments transported into North Carolina by Mexican organizations are used to supply crack cocaine distribution networks that further present an enormous social threat to North Carolina's inner city communities.

Heroin: Heroin use and availability is reportedly low but growing in North Carolina. It is mainly confined to the major central and eastern metropolitan centers. Mexican DTOs transport small consignments of Mexican brown and black tar heroin from the Southwest Border states to North Carolina using private and commercial vehicles and express parcel services. Other Hispanic, Asian, and African-American traffickers transport South American, Southeast Asian, and Southwest Asian heroin from Miami, New York/New Jersey, and Philadelphia by private vehicles and networks of commercial bus and airline couriers.

Methamphetamine: Clandestine production of methamphetamine was a statewide epidemic; however, seizures stabilized by the end of 2005 because of coordinated law enforcement operations, and federal and state laws that govern the sale of precursor chemicals such as pseudoephedrine, iodine, and anhydrous ammonia. Although domestic methamphetamine production is waning, Mexican-manufactured methamphetamine, primarily in the crystalline form (Ice), is readily available in the large metropolitan centers of the state, and increasingly in rural communities elsewhere. Most methamphetamine in North Carolina is imported in multi-pound quantities from Mexico through the Southwest Border states, but a significant amount also comes from Mexican sources of supply based in the Atlanta metropolitan/northern Georgia area. Mexican traffickers rely on private and commercial vehicles and express parcel services. Mexican-manufactured methamphetamine and Ice concealment often mimics those methods used for cocaine.

Marijuana: Marijuana is one of the most prevalent drugs in North Carolina. In the Charlotte metropolitan area, there is a local preference for Canadian, Sinsemilla, and exotic hydroponic strains over Mexican and domestic outdoor varieties. Over the past six years, Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) authorities have witnessed changes in domestic outdoor and indoor marijuana cultivation throughout the state, which would confirm this market shift. In addition, indoor hydroponic cultivation is increasing. Between 2002 and 2006, on average no more than 3 percent of all eradicated plants in the state resulted from indoor grows. From reporting received for 2007, the percentage now appears to have more than quadrupled. (However, this should be considered inconclusive due to the lack of resources directed at detecting indoor grow sites. Statewide eradication is also being impacted by the number of National Guard assets available due to multiple deployments from 2003 to the present.) Vietnamese criminal groups import Canadian marijuana into the larger metropolitan centers from Canada, but Mexican DTOs control most of the wholesale market in foreign-grown marijuana throughout the state, importing multi-hundred-pound quantities through the Southwest Border area from Mexico for in-state consumption and further distribution to surrounding states and the Northeast. Marijuana is transported by pickup trucks, RVs, commercial tractor-trailers, buses and other vehicles.

MDMA: Ecstasy (MDMA) has increased in popularity across the state and is especially popular with college and high-school aged people (15- to 25-year-old age bracket) who frequent rock concerts, bars, dance clubs, and other social venues. There is a large potential market with more than 50 four-year colleges and universities and several major military installations in North Carolina. Local and state agencies in North Carolina indicate that MDMA use is on the rise, arriving from trafficking networks in Canada via New York and California; however, it does not pose near the equivalent threat to most North Carolina communities as does cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Most prominently distributed in larger metropolitan centers and the military and coastal resort communities, authorities are targeting MDMA distributors and their out-of-state sources of supply. Vietnamese organized criminal groups control most of the wholesale distribution of MDMA in the state. The primary foreign sources are Canada, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Sales are often facilitated by the Internet. The Charlotte District Office and Raleigh Resident Office are targeting the rise of local Asian gangs trafficking MDMA and conducting money laundering for other trafficking groups.

Other Drugs: Other drugs of abuse that are popular in North Carolina are GHB, LSD, PCP, Ketamine, and Psilocybin. As with MDMA, the use of such drugs is especially popular at social settings with young people under the age of 25 who would be inclined to use, or succumb to peer pressure to experiment with these substances to enhance their experience. GHB and its analogs are also used by others who likewise frequent these outlets to target unsuspecting individuals for purposes of sexual predation. Law enforcement agencies have sporadically reported attempts to manufacture GHB locally with precursor chemicals ordered over the Internet. Local LSD and PCP distributors generally have Pacific Northwest or West Coast sources. Ketamine is reportedly diverted from local veterinary clinics or shipped to North Carolina from out-of-state sources by express mail service or private vehicle. Psilocybin mushrooms reportedly can be acquired from both local and out-of-state cultivators.

Pharmaceutical Diversion: The illegal distribution and abuse of controlled pharmaceuticals is widespread throughout North Carolina. Their appeal is simply due to the relative ease of acquisition and application. The diversion of prescription opiates such as methadone, morphine, codeine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone continues to be a problem in the largest metropolitan centers of the state. Benzodiazepines, such as Xanax® and Valium®, were also identified as being among the most commonly abused and diverted pharmaceuticals. Primary methods of diversion being reported are illegal sale and distribution by health care professionals and workers, “doctor shopping,” forged prescriptions, employee theft, and the Internet. In January 2007, DEA Greensboro, Wilmington, San Francisco and San Jose culminated an 18-month-long investigation into the illegal distribution of thousands of dosage units of controlled pharmaceuticals nationwide by a North Carolina Internet pharmacy. Four suspects were arrested and $4.2 million in assets seized.

Money Laundering: Money laundering of drug proceeds continues to be a significant threat to North Carolina. Mexican money-laundering specialists use their North Carolina bases to consolidate illegal drug proceeds, and then forward bulk shipments back to the Southwest Border and Mexico. Their concealment methods usually mimic those used to transport cocaine and methamphetamine into North Carolina via passenger and commercial vehicles.

Special Topics: The DEA continues to support North Carolina state and local efforts with specialized programs aimed at reducing the availability of drugs, to include the DCE/SP, Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Program, and various law enforcement officer training programs.

DEA State and Local Assistance: The DEA continues to support North Carolina state and local efforts with specialized programs aimed at reducing the availability of drugs, to include its Mobile Enforcement Teams (MET), Regional Enforcement Teams (RET), Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Program, Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP), Demand Reduction and Law Enforcement Officer Training.

DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams: This cooperative program with state and local law enforcement counterparts was conceived in 1995 in response to the overwhelming problem of violent street gangs and drug-trafficking organizations in communities across the nation. Since the inception of the MET Program, 473 deployments have been completed, resulting in 19,643 arrests. There have been six MET deployments in the State of North Carolina since the inception of the program, namely to Monroe, Kinston, Durham, Lumberton, Rocky Mount, and Durham. In March 2005, the DEA redirected its MET Program to address areas most heavily impacted by methamphetamine production and distribution. By the end of December 2005, 66 percent of all new MET deployments were targeting methamphetamine organizations.

DEA Regional Enforcement Teams: The RET Program was conceived in 1999 in response to the threat posed by drug-trafficking organizations that have established networks of drug-trafficking cells in smaller, non-traditional locations throughout the United States. This program was designed to augment existing DEA Division resources where there was a lack of sufficient local drug law enforcement. As of January 2005, there had been 27 deployments nationwide, and one deployment or to the U.S. Virgin Islands, resulting in 671 arrests. Two of these RET deployments were to Asheville and Charlotte.

Other Enforcement Operations: The OCDETF programs in the Eastern, Middle, and Western Federal Judicial Districts of North Carolina are very strong. The Western District ranks number one in prosecutions in the Southeast OCDETF Region.

More information about the Atlanta Division Office.

Sources

Factsheet last updated: 3/2008

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