Appendix A. OCDETF Regional Summaries

The following regional drug threat summaries provide strategic overviews of the illicit drug situation in each of the nine OCDETF regions, highlighting significant trends and law enforcement concerns relating to the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs. The summaries were prepared through detailed analysis of recent law enforcement reporting, information obtained through interviews with law enforcement and public health officials, OCDETF case files, and available statistical data.

Florida/Caribbean Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The Florida/Caribbean (FC) Region encompasses Florida, the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Four HIDTA programs are located within the region--the Central, North, and South Florida HIDTAs and the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA. The FC Region also has five U.S. Attorneys Districts--three in Florida, one in Puerto Rico, and one in the USVI. The FC Region serves as an entry point for substantial quantities of cocaine and heroin and lesser amounts of marijuana and MDMA that are further transported to markets throughout the Mid-Atlantic, New England, New York/New Jersey, and Southeast Regions.

Figure 2. The Florida/Caribbean Region.

Drug Threat Overview

The production, trafficking, and abuse of illicit drugs pose varying threats throughout the FC Region. High levels of cocaine abuse and widespread availability of the drug, combined with high levels of violence associated with both distribution and abuse, render cocaine the primary drug threat in the FC Region. The distribution and abuse of methamphetamine--particularly ice methamphetamine--heroin, and marijuana pose significant but varying drug threats. Ice methamphetamine availability, distribution, and abuse are increasing in Florida; abuse of the drug is rising in many rural areas of the state. In Puerto Rico and the USVI, however, there is no reported methamphetamine distribution or abuse. Heroin abuse in Puerto Rico and the USVI is low but increasing, and heroin availability and abuse are low throughout most of Florida. Increased production, abuse, and distribution of high-potency marijuana also create serious concerns for law enforcement officials in the FC Region. Nonetheless, they report that the drug does not pose as significant a problem as cocaine or methamphetamine because marijuana is generally associated with less violence and social disorder in the FC Region than other drugs.

Diverted pharmaceuticals and ODDs are of concern to law enforcement and public health officials in the FC Region. Diverted pharmaceuticals, particularly prescription narcotics and benzodiazepines, are widely available and abused. In fact, law enforcement officials report that diverted pharmaceuticals cause more deaths in the region than any other illicit drug. Moreover, law enforcement officials reported an escalating threat from Internet pharmacies in Florida during 2006. ODDs such as MDMA, GHB, and ketamine are available and abused in the FC Region; however, the overall threat posed by these drugs is considerably less than the threat posed by other drugs.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Atlanta is a national-level drug distribution center and is now the primary source for cocaine, ice methamphetamine, and Mexican marijuana distributed in central and northern Florida and a secondary source for these drugs in South Florida.
   
• Mexican DTOs are the dominant wholesale distributors of cocaine, ice methamphetamine, and Mexican marijuana in central and northern Florida; their influence is increasing in southern Florida and Puerto Rico.
   
• Mexican DTOs have forced African American street gangs from midlevel drug distribution in many areas of Florida, relegating them to lower-level retail distribution. This situation has led to rising levels of violence among African American street gangs, particularly in Jacksonville (FL), as these street gangs fight for remaining drug territories.
   
• Weapons smuggling from the continental United States, particularly from Florida into Puerto Rico and the USVI, is a rising law enforcement concern. Federal and local law enforcement officials report that the demand for weapons by drug traffickers in Puerto Rico and the USVI has fueled a black market in which illicit weapons generate large profits for arms dealers.

Variations From National Trends

• Colombian DTOs dominate wholesale cocaine and South American heroin trafficking in South Florida and the Caribbean. Colombian DTOs use these areas as part of their worldwide command, control, and communications base. From South Florida and the Caribbean, Colombian DTOs oversee the movement of cocaine and heroin shipments from source, staging, and transit zones in South America and Central America and Caribbean market areas to the continental United States, Europe, and Africa.
   
• Heroin abuse is extremely high in Puerto Rico. TEDS data show that in 2005 (the latest year for which data are available), heroin accounted for more treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in Puerto Rico than any other drug. Data from Puerto Rico's Forensic Sciences Institute indicate that forensic pathologists performed 185 drug-related autopsies in 2006; of these, intoxication caused by cocaine and opiates (primarily heroin) caused 81 deaths (44%), and heroin intoxication alone caused 25 deaths (14%).
   
• South Florida has emerged as a primary trafficking area for pharmaceutical drug diversion. Abusers and criminal groups working for organized drug diversion rings, particularly in northeastern states, often travel to South Florida, obtain prescriptions, and purchase the prescribed drugs, which they then transport to their points of origin for abuse or resale. Caribbean Division investigations in Puerto Rico have identified several doctors and associated pharmacies involved in the diversion of prescription drugs, both within Puerto Rico and to the Orlando area. Moreover, law enforcement officials report escalating Internet pharmacy problems in both Florida and Puerto Rico during 2006 and 2007.

To Top      To Contents

Great Lakes Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The Great Lakes Region encompasses Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Northern and Central U.S. Attorneys Districts of Illinois. It includes the Chicago, Lake County, Michigan, Milwaukee, and Ohio HIDTAs and parts of the Appalachia HIDTA as well as 13 U.S. Attorneys Districts. The region comprises urban areas, including Chicago (IL), Cleveland and Columbus (OH), Detroit and Grand Rapids (MI), Gary and Indianapolis (IN), Louisville (KY), Milwaukee (WI), and Minneapolis/St. Paul (MN), as well as large, sparsely populated agricultural areas, which are often used by traffickers to produce methamphetamine and marijuana. Chicago and Detroit are the largest metropolitan areas in the region; they are also principal wholesale illicit drug distribution centers, supplying drug markets in the Great Lakes Region as well as those in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and West Central Regions.

Figure 3. The Great Lakes Region.

Drug Threat Overview

The distribution and abuse of cocaine (particularly crack) and, to a lesser extent, heroin pose the greatest threats to most urban areas within the region, while the abuse of methamphetamine and marijuana are typically the greatest drug threats in rural areas and smaller cities. Crack cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine pose greater threats to public safety because these drugs are more addictive and are often associated with violent and property crime. Crack cocaine typically is reported as the greatest drug threat in metropolitan areas because of its widespread abuse and the violence attendant to its distribution. Marijuana is the most widely available and abused illicit drug in the region; however, it is generally reported by law enforcement as a lower threat because its distribution and abuse are less often associated with violent crime. The threats posed by ODDs and diverted pharmaceuticals vary but are usually much lower than the threats posed by other major drugs in the region.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Mexican DTOs, the dominant transporters and wholesale distributors of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and ice methamphetamine in the Great Lakes Region, are extending their wholesale distribution operations from larger cities such as Chicago and Detroit to secondary markets, including Columbus, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis.
   
• Methamphetamine production in the Great Lakes Region has declined significantly over the past 2 years because of precursor chemical control legislation, aggressive law enforcement efforts, and public awareness campaigns. As a result, high-purity Mexican ice methamphetamine supplied by Mexican DTOs has supplanted locally produced methamphetamine.
   
• Heroin abuse outside major metropolitan areas in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, including suburban and rural areas of greater Chicago, Detroit, Gary, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis, is increasing, particularly among young Caucasian abusers. Many of these new, younger abusers transitioned from the abuse of prescription narcotics to the abuse of heroin.
   
• Fentanyl (often used in combination with heroin) posed a public health threat in various parts of the region, particularly in Chicago and Detroit, resulting in hundreds of overdoses and deaths in 2005 and 2006. The problem abated following the May 2006 seizure of an illicit fentanyl production laboratory in Toluca, Mexico, that reportedly was the primary source of the drug.
   
• Asian DTOs are increasingly smuggling Canadian MDMA into the Great Lakes Region, primarily through Michigan. The rising availability of MDMA within the region has increased the abuse of the drug among high school and college students.

Variations From National Trends

• Mexican ice methamphetamine availability is increasing in many areas of the Great Lakes Region; no increases in the availability of Asian and Canadian methamphetamine have been reported.
   
• The abuse of pharmaceutical drugs, particularly prescription narcotics, is increasing among teenagers and young adults. Treatment admissions for other opiates (including prescription narcotics such as hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and oxycodone) to publicly funded facilities in the region among individuals 12 to 20 years old increased 84 percent from 2002 (584) to 2005 (1,076), the latest year for which such data are available.
   
• Caucasian criminal groups and independent dealers are the primary distributors of MDMA in the Great Lakes Region; however, African American criminal groups and Hispanic gangs are becoming increasingly involved in MDMA distribution in Wisconsin, a factor that may lead to increased abuse of the drug in that state.
   
• Street gangs are the primary retail distributors of illicit drugs in the region and are expanding their cocaine distribution activities from larger cities to suburban communities, primarily in the Chicago area. This expansion is leading to increased violence--particularly violence associated with crack distribution and abuse--and is straining limited law enforcement and public health resources in suburban communities.

To Top      To Contents

Mid-Atlantic Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) is composed of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Within the MAR are three HIDTAs--the Philadelphia/Camden HIDTA, the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA, and parts of the Appalachia HIDTA--as well as 10 U.S. Attorneys Districts. The MAR contains four of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States: Philadelphia (PA) is ranked fourth; the District of Columbia, eighth; Baltimore (MD), nineteenth; and Pittsburgh (PA), twenty-first. These metropolitan areas also are the region's principal drug markets. Secondary drug markets in the MAR include Richmond, Roanoke, and the Tidewater area of Virginia; Charleston and Wheeling (WV); Harrisburg, Scranton, and Allentown (PA); and Dover and Wilmington (DE). The large abuser population in the region sustains wide-scale distribution of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is transported from the Southwest and Pacific Regions, cocaine is shipped from the Florida/Caribbean Region, and heroin, Canadian marijuana, and MDMA are smuggled through POEs in the New York/New Jersey Region.

Figure 4. The Mid-Atlantic Region.

Drug Threat Overview

The distribution and abuse of cocaine pose the most significant drug threat in the region, as a result of the drug's wide availability and association with violence and property crime. Heroin poses a threat; the drug is available in most major markets, and its availability reportedly is rising in many smaller markets. Heroin is of particular concern to law enforcement and public health officials in Baltimore, where abuse of the drug is widespread; it is the leading drug threat in that city. The methamphetamine threat in the region is moderate but has increased, especially in some areas with growing Hispanic communities. Methamphetamine production in the region has decreased; however, Mexican DTOs are supplying more ice methamphetamine to the region than they had in the past. Marijuana, particularly commercial-grade Mexican marijuana, is the most widely available and abused illicit drug in the MAR. However, the availability of high-potency marijuana is increasing throughout much of the region. Prescription drugs--particularly hydrocodone and oxycodone products as well as benzodiazepines--are widely diverted and abused in the region. Other dangerous drugs such as GHB, LSD, MDMA, and PCP are available and abused in various local markets.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Mexican DTOs increasingly transport and distribute cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and ice methamphetamine in the MAR. These DTOs generally use well-established overland transportation networks extending from Mexico and southwestern states. However, Mexican DTOs have recently begun to transport some illicit drugs to the region from Atlanta (GA) and Charlotte (NC). Mexican DTOs often are employed by Colombian DTOs to transport illicit drugs to the MAR on their behalf, sometimes receiving drugs as payment.
   
• Canada-based Vietnamese DTOs and criminal groups are emerging as significant producers and transporters of wholesale quantities of high-potency Canadian marijuana as well as MDMA to the region. They typically smuggle these drugs from Canada into the region overland through POEs in western New York.
   
• Diverted pharmaceutical abuse among adolescents is a rising concern; the number of teenagers and young adults in the region who abuse prescription drugs--such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and benzodiazepines--is increasing.

Variations From National Trends

• Mexican DTOs operating from the Southwest Region are becoming increasingly involved in cocaine trafficking within the MAR, especially in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., as well as in areas of southern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.
   
• An increasing number of Dominican DTOs are bypassing Colombian sources of supply in New York City and the MAR and are obtaining cocaine at discounted prices from Mexican sources at the Southwest Border in order to increase profit margins.
   
• Colombian and Dominican DTOs are in firm control of the wholesale distribution of heroin, primarily South American heroin, in the MAR. Most of the heroin and cocaine transported by these DTOs enters the region from New York; additional amounts are transported directly to the region from California, southwestern states, Florida, and the Caribbean islands. Mexican DTOs also transport South American heroin to the region; they do so in the employ of Colombian DTOs and on their own behalf.
   
• The threat posed to the MAR by methamphetamine is relatively low--however, methamphetamine availability and abuse are increasing in a number of areas in the region, including the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the northwestern counties of Pennsylvania, and the Pocono Mountains area of Pennsylvania.
   
• While the demand for marijuana is declining at the national level, marijuana demand in the MAR is high and relatively stable. According to TEDS data, the number of marijuana-related treatment admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities increased overall from 2001 (25,029) through 2005 (30,242), reaching a peak in 2004 (34,494). Marijuana is abused by every ethnic, age, and socioeconomic group. The popularity of high-potency marijuana, especially among younger abusers, is a key factor in the high level of demand for the drug.
   
• Methadone-related fatal and nonfatal overdoses have increased in areas of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Virginia and West Virginia ranked in the top 10 states that reported methadone-related deaths in 2004, according to the latest data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

To Top      To Contents

New England Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The New England (NE) Region encompasses Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Significant drug markets in these states include Hartford (CT); Portland (ME); Concord, Manchester, and Nashua (NH); Providence (RI); Burlington (VT); Springfield (MA); and the Boston (MA) metropolitan area, which includes Lawrence and Lowell. Six U.S. Attorneys Offices are located in the NE Region. Most of the illicit drugs available in the NE Region are transported from the Southwest Region, often by way of New York. The NE Region's geographic location near New York City and the U.S.-Canada border facilitates the smuggling of drugs into the region. New York City is the largest drug market in the eastern United States and the source for most of the South American heroin, cocaine, and commercial-grade marijuana available in New England. A large percentage of the MDMA, marijuana, and prescription drugs available in the region are smuggled into the area across the U.S.-Canada border.

Figure 5. The New England Region.

Drug Threat Overview

The distribution and abuse of heroin, primarily South American heroin, and prescription narcotics such as OxyContin and Percocet (oxycodone) and Vicodin (hydrocodone) pose the greatest drug threats in the NE Region. In some areas of the NE Region, heroin abusers who sought methadone treatment to combat their addiction are now abusing methadone. Consequently, many treatment providers are substituting buprenorphine products in place of methadone. Cocaine, mostly crack, is commonly abused in some areas of the region, particularly inner-city neighborhoods in Hartford, Bridgeport, Providence, and Boston. Crack cocaine availability has expanded in Maine and New Hampshire as well, largely because African American and Hispanic criminal groups and street gangs from Massachusetts and New York have increased distribution in those areas. Marijuana is widely abused throughout the area; most abusers prefer high-potency marijuana from Canada over commercial-grade marijuana from Mexico. Moreover, some Canada-based Vietnamese traffickers are beginning to smuggle powder methamphetamine that they produce in Canada into the region. Methamphetamine poses a relatively low threat in the NE Region; most abuse of the drug is concentrated in the gay male community in Boston. The threat posed in the region by ODDs varies; MDMA distribution and abuse are increasing, while the abuse of LSD, PCP, and psilocybin mushrooms is stable at low levels. Khat is smuggled into Maine and distributed and abused among the local Somali population.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Canada-based Asian DTOs are increasing their presence in the NE Region; they are shifting some of their operations, particularly hydroponic cannabis cultivation operations, from Canada into New England states, particularly Connecticut and New Hampshire.
   
• Asian DTOs, primarily Vietnamese, are smuggling increased quantities of MDMA into the region from Canada, using transportation and distribution networks that they had previously established for Canadian high-potency marijuana.
   
• Some Canada-based Vietnamese traffickers are beginning to manufacture methamphetamine in Canada. These traffickers are smuggling a portion of the methamphetamine into the region, sometimes trading it for cocaine. These groups then smuggle the cocaine into Canada for distribution in Canadian drug markets such as Montreal, where an apparent cocaine shortage is developing.

Variations From National Trends

• Heroin is the primary drug threat in New England--the only region of the country in which this drug is the leading problem. The heroin problem in the NE Region is driven in part by prescription narcotic abuse; prescription narcotic abusers often switch to heroin because of the drug's lower cost and higher purity.
   
• Methadone is the leading cause of drug-related deaths in Maine and New Hampshire. Heroin abusers who sought methadone treatment to combat their addiction are now abusing methadone. Consequently, many treatment providers are substituting buprenorphine products in place of methadone; law enforcement officials in parts of Maine report that individuals are now abusing buprenorphine products.
   
• Asian DTOs are establishing hydroponic cannabis grow operations within the NE Region. In doing so, these DTOs are attempting to avoid losing large marijuana loads at the U.S.-Canada border as a result of heightened law enforcement scrutiny and to increase profit margins by avoiding cross-border transportation costs.
   
• The methamphetamine threat is low in the NE Region--one of the few areas in the country where methamphetamine is not a significant threat. However, some Canada-based Vietnamese traffickers are beginning to engage in methamphetamine production and distribution in order to exploit developing markets in the region.

To Top      To Contents

New York/New Jersey Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) Region encompasses the entire states of New York and New Jersey. The New York/New Jersey HIDTA and portions of the Philadelphia/Camden HIDTA are represented in the region, as are five U.S. Attorneys Districts. The region is densely populated and includes approximately 28 million individuals--9.3 percent of the population of the United States. New York City is the most significant drug market in the region and one of the largest in the United States. Secondary markets in the region include Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany (NY) and Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Trenton, and Camden (NJ).

Figure 6. The New York/New Jersey Region.

Drug Threat Overview

Cocaine and heroin pose the most serious drug threats in the region. Cocaine is frequently abused throughout the area, and availability of the drug typically is high; however, in February 2007 several cocaine markets in the region reported atypical decreases in powder cocaine availability and significant increases in cocaine prices. Cocaine distribution, particularly crack cocaine distribution, is often conducted by violent street gang members, who reportedly perpetrate a considerable portion of the drug-related violence that occurs in the region. Heroin abuse in the region is extensive. The heroin available in the area is among the purest in the nation, drawing an increasing number of abusers, including young adults. They abuse heroin in New Jersey at a rate more than twice the national average.²⁶ Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the region, and the availability of high-potency marijuana from Canada and from indoor grow sites in the region has increased. Methamphetamine poses a lesser threat than other drugs, despite the fact that its availability has increased; high-purity Mexican ice methamphetamine is more available in the region than it was in the past. MDMA, diverted pharmaceuticals, and ODDs pose a low threat.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• The purity of South American heroin available in the region has decreased slightly. Newark (NJ), which previously led the nation in South American heroin purity, now ranks behind Philadelphia (PA) and New York City. South American heroin purity has been decreasing in the region since 2003; however, this is the first time since 2001 that Newark did not lead the nation in South American heroin purity.
   
• Despite reported decreases in South American heroin purity, heroin poses an increasing threat to the region. Heroin abuse, particularly among young people, is rising. The reason for the increase is largely unknown; however, law enforcement and public health officials believe that it may be due, in part, to the ease with which high-purity South American heroin can be administered--by inhalation rather than by injection. Further, some prescription narcotics abusers switch to heroin if it is more readily available or less expensive than prescription narcotics.
   
• Asian (primarily Vietnamese) DTOs based in Canada are using networks that they established for marijuana distribution to supply increasing amounts of high-potency Canadian marijuana as well as MDMA to midlevel and retail-level distributors in the region.
   
• Canada-based Asian DTOs and criminal groups as well as members of OMGs have increased their use of the St. Regis Mohawk (Akwesasne) Reservation as a transportation corridor to smuggle high-potency Canadian marijuana and MDMA into the region.
   
• Asian DTOs have increased the size of high-potency marijuana loads that they ship from Canada into the region through western New York POEs. The loads had weighed several hundred pounds and had usually been transported in private vehicles; now most weigh several thousand pounds and are transported in commercial vehicles. This increase could mean that these DTOs are expanding their marijuana distribution operations to more domestic drug markets, including those outside the region.
   
• Italian organized crime groups have increased their production of high-potency hydroponic marijuana at indoor grow sites on Long Island because of the high profit margins associated with the drug and the lesser criminal penalties prescribed for marijuana-related offenses.
   
• The availability and abuse of high-purity Mexican ice methamphetamine have increased in the region, fueled by local Mexican wholesale distributors who transport multipound quantities of ice methamphetamine into the NY/NJ Region from laboratories in Mexico and from transshipment locations in Southwest Border states, California, and Atlanta.
   
• The New York State Department of Health recently introduced official state prescription forms that contain security features designed to prevent alterations and forged prescriptions. The use of these new forms has contributed to a decrease in local pharmaceutical diversion in New York and may have forced abusers and traffickers to use alternate methods of acquiring pharmaceutical drugs, such as ordering them from Internet pharmacies.

Variations From National Trends

• Heroin poses a more serious threat in the NY/NJ Region than it does in most other regions of the country. The heroin consumed in the NY/NJ Region is among the purest in the nation, and heroin-related admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities far exceed those of any other illicit drug. Heroin abuse in the region has increased, encompassing a growing abuser population that includes a rising number of younger users.
   
• Methamphetamine abuse, while increasing in the region, poses a low threat in the NY/NJ Region--one of the few areas in the country where the methamphetamine threat is not significant. Most of the methamphetamine available in the area is transported from California and southwestern states. However, some methamphetamine is locally produced; most methamphetamine laboratories established in the region are small--quantities produced in them are sufficient for personal use and limited distribution only.
   
• The abuse of prescription narcotics has increased in the NY/NJ region, particularly among high school and college students. Law enforcement officials in the region report widespread diversion and abuse of prescription narcotics, including Vicodin, OxyContin, methadone, and buprenorphine. Treatment admissions for prescription narcotic abuse in the region rose 92.4 percent between 2001 (4,449) and 2005 (8,559), the latest year for which such data are available; treatment admissions for individuals aged 12 to 20 rose 427 percent (137 to 722) during the same period.

To Top      To Contents

Pacific Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The Pacific Region encompasses northern and central California (including all counties except the southernmost nine), Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington as well as the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The region includes the entirety of the Central Valley California, Hawaii, Nevada, Northern California, Northwest, and Oregon HIDTAs as well as 10 U.S. Attorneys Districts. The region's access to major illicit drug production and source areas in Mexico and Canada as well as in Asia and Europe facilitates smuggling of illicit drugs into the United States through the region for distribution to drug markets located throughout the country. Several areas in the Pacific Region have emerged as regional and national distribution centers for wholesale quantities of illicit drugs. Distribution centers include Central Valley (CA) (most notably Bakersfield, Fresno, and Modesto), Las Vegas, Portland (OR), Puget Sound (WA) (most notably Seattle and Tacoma), the San Francisco Bay Area (CA), and Yakima Valley/Tri-Cities (WA).

Figure 7. The Pacific Region.

Drug Threat Overview

Methamphetamine trafficking and abuse pose the greatest threat to the region, largely because of the widespread availability of the drug, high levels of methamphetamine abuse, and high levels of methamphetamine-related violent crime and property crime. Marijuana availability is widespread, and abuse of the drug is increasing throughout the region. This situation is a combined result of rising overall demand and increased availability of high-potency marijuana. Additionally, marijuana distributors in California have aggressively exploited state medical marijuana laws to facilitate illegal cannabis cultivation. The transportation, multilevel distribution, and high levels of abuse of heroin and cocaine also are significant drug problems in the region. The distribution and abuse of ODDs and diverted pharmaceutical drugs pose fewer significant problems than those of other illicit drugs; however, the threat is increasing in many areas.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Cannabis cultivation and marijuana production operations at both outdoor and indoor locations in the Pacific Region are extensive, becoming more sophisticated, and increasing in size. Rising levels of cannabis cultivation have increased the risk of harm to law enforcement, public health officials, and private citizens.
   
• Asian DTOs and criminal groups pose a moderate, yet increasing, drug trafficking threat to the Pacific Region. Throughout 2006 the incidence of Asian DTOs--predominantly Vietnamese groups--operating larger indoor cannabis cultivation sites has increased significantly.
   
• Some Canada-based Vietnamese criminal groups have relocated a number of their indoor cannabis cultivation operations from Canada to the region, most likely to capitalize on increasing regional and national demand for high-potency marijuana, to reduce transportation costs associated with cross-border smuggling, and to minimize their exposure to law enforcement border operations.
   
• Asian DTOs and criminal groups are producing and smuggling increasing amounts of MDMA from Canada for regional and nationwide distribution--the threat from MDMA trafficking and abuse is increasing in the Pacific Region.

Variations From National Trends

• State and local law enforcement officials report that methamphetamine contributes to more violent and property crime in the region than any other drug.
   
• Mexican ice methamphetamine has emerged as the most prevalent type of methamphetamine available in the Pacific Region, primarily as a result of significant decreases in local methamphetamine production over the past several years. To increase their customer base, Mexican DTOs in northern California are employing a new technique for marketing methamphetamine that is directed toward younger users--they are adding flavoring and coloring to the drug. This form of methamphetamine first emerged in Contra Costa County in 2007.

To Top      To Contents

Southeast Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The Southeast (SE) Region encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. It includes three HIDTA program areas--Atlanta, Gulf Coast, and part of Appalachia. In addition, 20 U.S. Attorneys Districts are located in the region. Atlanta is a national-level distribution center for powder cocaine, ice methamphetamine, and Mexican marijuana; the city also is a regional distribution center for MDMA. The cities of Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh (NC) have emerged as secondary distribution centers for illicit drugs destined for drug markets within the region and other parts of the country.

Figure 8. The Southeast Region.

Drug Threat Overview

The production, abuse, and distribution of illicit drugs pose varying threat levels throughout the Southeast Region. Cocaine poses the most significant threat; the drug is widely abused and frequently associated with violent crime in the region, and availability is typically high. However, in late February 2007 several cocaine markets in the area, including Atlanta, reported atypical decreases in powder cocaine availability. Methamphetamine, primarily ice methamphetamine supplied by Mexican DTOs, is a serious threat to the region and in some areas represents a threat equal to that of cocaine. Precursor legislation has led to declining local powder methamphetamine production in the region. However, Mexican DTOs have supplanted declining local production with increasing quantities of higher-purity ice methamphetamine produced in Mexico. The higher purity of Mexican ice methamphetamine has drawn more abusers to the drug; ice methamphetamine abuse crosses most demographic categories in the region, including teenagers and young adults. Marijuana is the most widely abused illicit drug throughout the Southeast Region. Heroin poses a relatively low threat to most of the region; however, some areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina are experiencing high levels of heroin abuse. ODDs, including MDMA, and pharmaceutical drugs are available and abused to varying degrees and pose a low threat.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Mexican DTOs have established Atlanta as a national-level distribution and transshipment center for powder cocaine, ice methamphetamine, and Mexican marijuana. They typically transport significant quantities of these drugs from Mexico, California, and southwestern states to stash locations within the Atlanta metropolitan area, from which they either distribute the drugs locally or transport them to drug markets within the Florida/Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic, New England, New York/New Jersey, Southeast, and West Central Regions.
   
• Mexican DTOs are also establishing Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh (NC) as secondary distribution centers for most drugs in order to spread their operations over a larger geographic area and minimize the risk of loss occasioned by heightened law enforcement scrutiny in Atlanta.
   
• New Orleans (LA) has experienced increased drug-related violence as retail-level drug distributors displaced by Hurricane Katrina return to the city and attempt to reestablish their trafficking operations. Upon their return, many of these distributors are finding a diminished customer base, leading them to seek additional distribution territory. This situation has resulted in increasingly violent turf battles among retail distributors, contributing to escalating homicide rates in the city.
   
• Indoor cannabis cultivation is increasing in the Southeast Region as growers attempt to avoid outdoor eradication and attain higher profits through the production of higher-potency marijuana. Cuban criminal groups with ties to organizations in the Florida/Caribbean Region are increasingly cultivating cannabis at indoor grow sites in the SE Region.

Variations From National Trends

• African American criminal groups and street gangs that typically distribute crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana and, occasionally, MDMA have recently begun to distribute ice methamphetamine.
   
• New Orleans drug traffickers have formed new associations with sources of supply in Texas, particularly traffickers in Houston. Approximately 150,000 New Orleans residents were evacuated and relocated to the Houston area in 2005 because of Hurricane Katrina. Some of these evacuees were drug traffickers from high-crime areas of New Orleans, and, upon relocating to Houston, they formed relationships with local drug dealers and gang members. Many of these traffickers have returned to New Orleans, and the relationships that they forged with Houston-based traffickers have enabled them to reestablish drug markets in New Orleans with a steady source of supply.

To Top      To Contents

Southwest Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The Southwest Region encompasses Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and the nine southernmost counties in California. Within the Southwest Region are eight HIDTAs--the California Border Alliance Group (CBAG), Los Angeles, Arizona, New Mexico, Houston, North Texas, South Texas, and West Texas HIDTAs--as well as 11 U.S. Attorneys Districts. The Southwest Region, which contains the nearly 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border, is the principal arrival zone for most illicit drugs smuggled into the United States. Mexican DTOs operating in Mexico and the United States exert nearly total control over drug trafficking operations along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Southwest Region also serves as a significant national money laundering center for the transportation and placement of illicit funds derived from the sale of drugs in the region and throughout the country.

Figure 9. The Southwest Region.

Drug Threat Overview

The drug threat facing the Southwest Region is extensive, encompassing drug production, cross-border smuggling, national drug transportation, multilevel drug distribution, increasing abuse rates, drug-related crime, and money laundering. Methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, ODDs, and diverted pharmaceutical drugs pose varying threats to the Southwest Region. Methamphetamine poses the greatest drug threat because of the amount smuggled into the region from Mexico, the high rates of abuse, and the increasing amount of violence and property crime related to the drug. The threat posed by the trafficking and abuse of cocaine is increasing, primarily because Mexican DTOs dominate the cocaine market in the region and have emerged as the primary suppliers of cocaine to other regions of the country. Marijuana is the most readily available drug in the Southwest Region; more marijuana is seized along the Southwest Border than all other drugs combined. Drug traffickers often use marijuana smuggling and distribution to finance other trafficking activities. The trafficking and abuse of heroin also pose significant drug threats because of the large quantities of Mexican black tar and Mexican brown powder heroin that are smuggled into the region from Mexico for local distribution and transshipment to other regions of the country. ODDs and diverted pharmaceutical drugs pose a lesser drug threat to the region, largely because the drugs are transported, distributed, and abused less frequently than other illicit drugs.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Mexican DTOs are the primary organizational threat to the Southwest Region, primarily because of the breadth of their trafficking operations along the U.S.-Mexico border. They exert more influence over drug trafficking in the Southwest Region than any other trafficking group because of their extensive cross-border trafficking networks as well as their expansive transportation and distribution operations.
   
• Mexican DTOs operating along the U.S.-Mexico border are no longer solely drug trafficking organizations; they are expanding into other criminal enterprises to generate additional income. Many DTOs now engage in alien smuggling, extortion, and ransom kidnapping to help fund their drug trafficking operations.
   
• Mexican ice methamphetamine is the dominant form of methamphetamine available in the region and has replaced locally produced powder methamphetamine. This is a result of Mexican DTOs' transferring methamphetamine production operations to Mexico and the enactment of state and local precursor chemical control legislation that dramatically decreased methamphetamine production in the region.
   
• Mexican DTOs are expanding cannabis cultivation operations in the Southwest Region, most likely to capitalize on increasing regional and national demand for higher-potency marijuana. Mexican DTOs control the largest cannabis plots in the region and often locate them on public lands, including in national forests.
   
• Several port expansion projects are underway in Mexico; they involve the development of intermodal transportation networks connecting Mexico's maritime ports with markets in the interior of the United States. These projects will most likely increase the volume of commercial truck and rail traffic entering the Southwest Region from Mexico, providing traffickers with additional opportunities to conceal their illicit operations.

Variations From National Trends

• Several Mexican DTOs are engaged in violent disputes over control of smuggling routes that traverse the Southwest Border. Most of this violence has remained in Mexico; some, including violence against law enforcement personnel who patrol the Southwest Border, has spilled into the region. Violence is also emerging in Southwest Border areas and communities that have not experienced high levels of smuggling-related violence in the past.
   
• Abuse of cheese heroin is increasing in the Dallas area. At least 11 schools within the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) reported the presence of the drug combination on their campuses. Moreover, local officials attribute the deaths of at least 22 Dallas County individuals since 2005 to cheese heroin; eight were DISD students.
   
• African American criminal groups are becoming increasingly involved in methamphetamine distribution in the region. This includes an increasing number of crack cocaine distribution groups that are now distributing methamphetamine in addition to crack cocaine. Additionally, some African American crack cocaine abusers are switching to methamphetamine. These trends have been reported by law enforcement and health officials in southeastern New Mexico, Dallas and Tyler (TX), and Oklahoma City.

To Top      To Contents

West Central Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The West Central Region is composed of large metropolitan areas as well as expansive, sparsely populated locations that include public and Native American tribal lands within 11 states; the region also shares an international border with Canada. The West Central Region is populated by approximately 22.6 million people; more than 50 percent reside in metropolitan and urban areas. Traffickers distribute large quantities of illicit drugs from St. Louis, Kansas City, Des Moines, Omaha, Denver, and Salt Lake City. These cities facilitate access to markets in the West Central Region and the rest of the country, primarily because of their geographic locations along major interstate highways and other transportation systems.

Figure 10. The West Central Region.

Drug Threat Overview

Methamphetamine poses the greatest overall drug threat to the region because of its wide availability and association with violence, identity theft, and property crime. Mexican DTOs have capitalized on declining local methamphetamine production to supply the region's methamphetamine market with low-cost, high-purity ice methamphetamine. The distribution and abuse of powder and crack cocaine and Mexican black tar and brown powder heroin also are significant drug threats. Marijuana is the most widely available and abused drug in the region. The threat posed by ODDs is low and varies by state. The diversion and abuse of pharmaceutical drugs are generally low.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Mexican DTOs have reinforced their position as the dominant illicit drug transporters and distributors in the West Central Region. They exploit well-established trafficking networks and a sophisticated distribution system that reaches from sources of supply in Mexico and southwestern states to regional distribution hubs in Denver, Kansas City and St. Louis (MO), Omaha, and Salt Lake City.
   
• Denver, Kansas City, and St. Louis have emerged as significant transshipment centers for cocaine, Mexican ice methamphetamine, and Mexican marijuana smuggled by Mexican DTOs to drug markets in the Northeast, including New York City.
   
• Mexican DTOs are expanding their distribution operations in metropolitan areas within Missouri, where they had previously maintained a limited presence. These traffickers provide wholesale and midlevel distributors with a consistent source for cocaine, Mexican ice methamphetamine, and Mexican marijuana.
   
• Crack cocaine distributors in some areas of the region are now selling powder cocaine to users along with instructions on how to convert the powder into crack. They are doing so in order to avoid the more stringent penalties associated with crack distribution.
   
• Some abusers are beginning to use crack cocaine in place of methamphetamine in metropolitan areas and smaller towns, such as Hannibal (MO), that have experienced significant declines in the availability of locally produced methamphetamine.
   
• Asian DTOs with ties to Canada have recently begun to establish hydroponic cannabis grow operations in the region to capitalize on the rising demand for high-potency marijuana. In addition, they are quite likely establishing grow sites in the region to avoid losing marijuana loads at the U.S.-Canada border as a result of heightened law enforcement scrutiny and to increase profit margins by avoiding cross-border transportation costs.
   
• The abuse of cheese heroin is emerging in Boulder County (CO). This drug appears to be popular among 10- to 16-year-old Hispanic juveniles in the region, both male and female.

Variations From National Trends

• Retail distribution of crack cocaine by Hispanic dealers is increasing in many urban drug markets within the region. Hispanic dealers are forcing out African American retailers who previously controlled all crack distribution in these areas. As such, many African American crack cocaine dealers are moving their operations to outlying suburban and rural areas to avoid confrontation and violence.
   
• The availability and retail distribution of white powder heroin have surpassed those of Mexican heroin over the past 2 years in the St. Louis metropolitan area and St. Louis County.
   
• Retail theft of pharmaceutical drugs has dramatically increased since 2004 in areas of the region. For instance, pharmacy robberies and burglaries in the Denver and Salt Lake City metropolitan areas have increased by 50 percent in each of the last 2 years.

End Note

26. The State of New Jersey Department of Human Services reports that 5 percent of young adults (ages 18 to 25) in New Jersey report lifetime heroin abuse, compared with 2 percent nationwide.