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DEA
Congressional Testimony
Statement
by:
Donnie R.
Marshall
Administrator
Drug Enforcement Administration
Before
the:
U.S. House
of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime
Date:
March 29,
2001
Note: This document
may not reflect changes made in actual delivery.
Good Morning Chairman
Smith, Ranking Member Scott, and other distinguished members of the Subcommittee.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to appear before you today for the
purpose of discussing our continuing efforts to address issues and concerns
associated with Drug Trafficking on the Southwest Border. As always, I
would first like to preface my remarks by thanking the Subcommittee for
its unwavering support of the men and women of the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) and overall support of drug law enforcement.
The border that joins
the United States to Mexico is currently an extremely porous part of the
nation's periphery. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2000, 293 million people, 89 million
cars, 4.5 million trucks, and 572,583 rail cars entered the United States
from Mexico. Unfortunately, the growing volume of commercial and pedestrian
traffic that plays an integral role in our nation's economy creates an
infinite number of opportunities for drug trafficking organizations to
introduce their illegal goods into the commerce of the United States.
Illegal drugs are hidden in all modes of conveyances, including the compartments
of cars and trucks, and the bodies and baggage of pedestrians. Some organizations
may employ couriers who cross the desert in armed pack trains, or who
act as human "mules" by strapping the drugs onto their bodies. The means
by which illegal drugs enter the United States range from extremely sophisticated
concealment methods to simply tossing the drug laden package over border
fences to be whisked away on foot or by vehicle. Drug trafficking organizations
also utilize boats and ships to position their stash of drugs close to
the border for eventual transfer to the United States.
Illicit drugs are
smuggled in record levels into the United States via the 2,000-mile U.S./Mexico
border. Over the past few years, Mexican based trafficking organizations
have succeeded in establishing themselves as the preeminent poly-drug
traffickers of the world, using our shared border to smuggle illicit drugs
into the United States. These organizations present an increasing threat
to the national security of this country, with voluminous amount of drugs,
violent crime, and the associated corruption of public officials in Mexico.
Mexico is the largest transshipment point of South American cocaine destined
for the United States, and 65% of this cocaine reaches American cities
via the U.S./Mexico border. Mexico also remains a major source country
for heroin and marijuana, and many of these Mexican based trafficking
organizations are utilized by Colombian Cartels to transship drugs destined
for the United States.
Assessing
the Threat: The Role of the U.S./Mexico Border in
the Drug Trade
The drug threat presented
by the U.S./Mexico Border is fairly consistent with the national drug
threat, and to a certain extent, defines the overall drug threat against
our nation. Clearly, the most distinguishable threat is the transformation
and emergence of Mexican based trafficking organizations, whose activities
now reach the highest echelons of the cocaine trade. Previously limited
to marijuana and Mexican heroin smuggling, Mexican based groups have expanded
and profited by maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship with Colombian
based traffickers.
The U.S./Mexico Border
continues to be the preferred corridor to smuggle cocaine, black tar heroin,
methamphetamine, and marijuana into the United States. Overland smuggling
constitutes a primary threat by secreting among the millions of pedestrians,
cars, and trucks that the U.S. Customs Service (USCS) estimates cross
the 39 legitimate crossing points from Mexico. There are 24 ports of entry
(POEs) at the border as well as 15 additional crossing points. Some of
these POEs include multiple crossing points. Preliminary El Paso Intelligence
Center (EPIC) statistics indicate that smuggling levels remained high:
in CY-2000, authorities seized 17,660 kilograms of cocaine, 619 kilograms
of heroin, 1,645 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 998,180 kilograms of
marijuana along the U.S./Mexico Border.
These recent trends
illustrate the vulnerability of the U.S./Mexico Border to Colombia and
Mexico based trafficking organizations intent on introducing drugs into
the United States market:
- Cocaine is primarily
transported from South America by vessel to the West Coast of Mexico
and, to a lesser extent, the Yucatan peninsula, which is situated in
the southeast portion of Mexico adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. The
use of vessels to transport bulk shipments of cocaine represents a departure
from the use of such modes of transportation as private aircraft and
trucks utilized by drug transporters over the past two decades. From
Mexico, bulk shipments of cocaine are then trucked to the United States,
oftentimes secreted in produce and other perishable shipments.
- Mexican black
tar heroin is being smuggled into the United States in larger quantities
than in the past; multi-kilogram seizures of heroin are becoming increasingly
commonplace.
- South American
heroin is transported by courier on commercial airlines or by private
aircraft from South America to Mexico, and then by commercial airline
or by private or commercial vehicle to the United States.
- The DEA Tijuana
Resident Office (TJRO) reported that 13 methamphetamine labs had been
seized in Baja, California, in Fiscal Year 2001 as compared with three
(3) seizures in Fiscal Year 2000.
- MDMA is being
smuggled into Mexico for ultimate transshipment to the United States.
- On February 26,
2001, U.S. Customs and DEA investigated the discovery of a 25-foot tunnel
that took advantage of drainage lines that connect the U.S. and Mexico.
A total of 375 kilograms of cocaine were recovered as a result of this
effort.
Cocaine Trafficking
Across The U.S./Mexico Border
Through the 1980s,
most of the cocaine that entered the United States did so through the
Caribbean and South Florida. Increased enforcement and interdiction efforts,
however, forced traffickers to shift the majority of their smuggling operations
to Mexico, a move that led DEA and other Federal agencies to mobilize
along the U.S./Mexico Border. According to a recent interagency intelligence
assessment, approximately 65 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the
United States in 2000 crossed the U.S./Mexico Border.
Colombian based organizations
rely on Mexican based groups in locations such as Guadalajara, Juárez,
Matamoros, Sinaloa, and Tijuana to convey their cocaine into the United
States. Mexican trafficking organizations have established themselves
as transportation specialists for smuggling drugs across the U.S./Mexico
Border. Frequently, these trafficking organizations are comprised of poly
drug smugglers who transport marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin in
addition to cocaine.
Over the past decade,
Colombian based drug lords and Mexican based trafficking organizations
have entered into a symbiotic relationship that has resulted in the Mexican
based traffickers playing an increasing role in the cocaine trade. Under
this arrangement, Mexican based traffickers often receive shipments of
cocaine directly from Colombian based organizations, and contract with
the source to deliver a portion of the shipment to a contact of the Colombian
based network operating in the United States. The Mexican based traffickers
are allowed to keep the balance of the cocaine shipment as payment for
their services, transporting the shipment to Mexican-controlled wholesale
distribution networks that principally operate in the Western United States.
By the mid-1990s,
Mexican based transportation groups were receiving up to half of each
cocaine shipment they smuggled into the United States on behalf of the
Colombian based traffickers. By relinquishing a portion of the cocaine
destined for the U.S. market to Mexican based drug organizations, as opposed
to attempting to unilaterally control every aspect of importation and
distribution, Colombian based drug lords radically changed the role and
sphere of influence of Mexican based trafficking organizations in the
cocaine trade. In doing so, the Colombian based traffickers have minimized
their risk of exposure to U.S. law enforcement authorities, and provided
Mexican based traffickers with a valuable source of revenue and domestic
customers.
As a consequence
of this development, traffickers operating from Mexico now control a substantial
proportion of wholesale cocaine distribution throughout the Western and
Midwestern United States. Distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine
once dominated by the Colombia-based drug traffickers is now controlled
by trafficking groups from Mexico in cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Denver,
Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.
In addition to cocaine transportation, some drug trafficking groups operating
from Mexico appear to offer a range of services, including wholesale cocaine
distribution and money laundering for Colombian clients, and direct delivery
to wholesale-level customers on behalf of the major Colombian based cocaine
groups.
Routes
and General Methods
Over the past two
decades, cocaine was primarily moved by air and land into Mexico from
Colombia. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, traffickers used large
commercial aircraft, such as 727's and 737's, to move cocaine from South
America to Mexico. Currently, maritime vessels are the most frequent method
used to transport bulk shipments of cocaine to Mexico for ultimate distribution
in the United States. Colombian based traffickers utilize fishing vessels
to move cocaine usually to the West Coast of Mexico, and, to a lesser
extent, the Yucatan peninsula. The cocaine is then off-loaded to "go-fast"
watercraft for final delivery to shore. Once secured on land, the drug
shipments are consolidated for overland movement to the U.S./Mexico Border.
Traffickers continue
to use trucking routes through Central America and Mexico to the U.S./Mexico
Border. Cocaine shipments transported through Mexico or Central America
are generally moved overland to staging sites in or near northern Mexico,
although intelligence suggests that small aircraft may play a role in
moving some cocaine to the border area. At these staging sites, the cocaine
is broken down into smaller loads for smuggling across the U.S./Mexico
border.
Three of the four
primary cocaine importation points within the United States are located
along the U.S./Mexico Border in Arizona, Southern California, and Texas.
Cross-border cocaine shipments generally are smuggled across the U.S./Mexico
border in concealed compartments within cars, trucks, and recreation vehicles,
or commingled with legitimate tractor-trailer cargo. Typically, the land
vehicles are driven across the U.S./Mexico Border, and then either left
in parking lots for subsequent pick-up, or driven directly to storage
sites in the United States. Using this method, traffickers are able to
shroud their illegal activities in the tremendous numbers of people and
vehicles crossing the U.S./Mexico Border. These cocaine shipments typically
consist of 20 to 50 kilogram loads secreted in concealed compartments
that are primarily located under floorboards and/or in gas tanks of passenger
cars, pickup trucks, and vans. Larger quantities, however, have also been
seized. For example, in October 2001,109 kilograms of cocaine were seized
at a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) checkpoint in Falfurrias,
Texas. The cocaine was found inside boxes onboard a tractor-trailer, commingled
with a shipment of tee shirts.
Cocaine also is carried
across the U.S./Mexico border by couriers known as mules, who
cross into the United States either legally through U.S./Mexico Border
ports of entry, or illegally through undesignated points along the border.
The couriers typically carry small, kilogram quantities of cocaine, thus
minimizing the losses incurred by the courier's controller in the event
of robbery, theft, or law enforcement intervention.
Heroin Trafficking
Across The U.S./Mexico Border
The U.S./Mexico Border
is a significant transit point to the U.S. heroin market, not only for
the Mexican black tar and brown heroin that dominate the markets west
of the Mississippi River, but increasingly for South American heroin destined
for the primary markets in the Northeast. Moreover, Nigerian and Southeast
Asia based traffickers have been known to move opiate/heroin products
across the U.S./Mexico Border.
Mexican
Heroin
Mexican Black tar
and brown heroin has been a threat to the United States for decades. It
is produced, smuggled, and distributed by poly-drug trafficking groups,
many of which have been in operation for more than 20 years. Mexican based
heroin distributors operating within the United States have historically
been Mexican nationals with familial and/or geographical ties to the states
of Durango, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, and Sinoloa.
Mexican heroin primarily
is smuggled overland and across the U.S./Mexico Border. Traffickers take
advantage of easy border access and store bulk quantities of heroin in
Mexico, where the perceived risk of discovery and seizure is low. When
a transaction is arranged, the contracted amount, usually 1 to 2 kilograms,
is smuggled into the United States, frequently by illegal aliens and migrant
workers. By keeping quantities small, traffickers hope to minimize the
risk of losing a significant quantity of heroin in a single seizure. Even
large poly-drug Mexican organizations, which smuggle multi-ton quantities
of cocaine and marijuana, generally limit smuggling of Mexican heroin
into the United States to kilogram and smaller amounts. Nevertheless,
trafficking organizations employing this "piecemeal" strategy are capable
of regularly smuggling significant quantities of heroin into the United
States.
Recent intelligence
indicates that some heroin traffickers are smuggling 5 to 30 kilograms
of Mexican heroin in tar and powder form from the interior of Mexico,
representing a departure from the previous practice of Mexican based traffickers,
who smuggled heroin into the United States in 1-2 kilogram amounts.
As recently as January
2, 2001, 92 pounds of black tar heroin were seized by the U.S. Customs
Service in Del Rio, Texas. In December, 2000, the U.S. Customs Service
seized 59 pounds of black tar heroin at the Laredo port-of-entry. The
U.S. Customs Service also reported several large seizures of black tar
heroin at Arizona ports-of-entry. On October 3, 2000, for example, U.S.
Customs Service Inspectors seized 101 pounds at the San Luis port-of-entry.
This seizure ranks as one of the largest ever made along the U.S./Mexico
Border.
Once heroin is smuggled
into the United States, transportation is arranged to metropolitan areas
in the western and southwestern states with sizeable Hispanic populations.
Mexican heroin has also been transported to primary markets in Chicago,
Denver, and St. Louis. Periodically, Mexican traffickers have attempted
to find markets for black tar heroin in East Coast cities such as Boston
and Atlanta. However, this effort at market expansion has, for the most
part, met with failure. Although recent DEA cases have involved Mexican
black tar heroin trafficking groups operating east of the Mississippi
River, there has been no successful, long-term penetration of the East
Coast heroin market by organizations selling Mexican-produced heroin.
South
American Heroin
The availability
of South American heroin, produced almost exclusively in Colombia, has
increased dramatically in the Eastern United States since 1993. Despite
having relatively limited production capacity and relying on unsophisticated
smuggling techniques, traffickers of South American heroin have had a
substantial impact on the U.S. market. The traffic of South American heroin
has been characterized by the production of modest quantities of the drug
in small laboratories in Colombia, the smuggling of heroin in quantities
of 500 grams to 1 kilogram by numerous couriers aboard commercial airlines,
and distribution of the drug through traditional retail outlets in northeastern
cities, primarily New York City, Newark, Boston, and Philadelphia.
In response to increased
drug law enforcement presence at eastern ports-of-entry, some South American
based heroin traffickers have sought out alternative routes. Recent seizures
in 2000 and 2001 reflect an increasing use of Mexico to smuggle South
American heroin into the United States. In February 2001, for example,
two separate seizures of South American heroin, totaling 4.9 kilograms,
were made at the airport in Tijuana, Mexico.
Methamphetamine
Trafficking Across The U.S./Mexico Border
Over the last decade,
the methamphetamine trafficking and abuse situation in the United States
changed dramatically. In the mid-1990s, methamphetamine trafficking and
abuse increased in the United States, primarily in the West and Midwest.
In 1997, this trend started to spread, to a lesser extent, to the Southeast.
The entry of Mexico-based trafficking organizations into the methamphetamine
trade contributed to this resurgence.
Historically, outlaw
motorcycle gangs and many independent dealers dominated methamphetamine
manufacturing and trafficking. Although independent trafficking groups
continue to produce methamphetamine, in 1994, Mexican national drug trafficking
organizations operating in California and Mexico began to take control
of the production and distribution of methamphetamine in the United States.
From their experience in the trafficking of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana,
the Mexican organizations already had well established transportation
routes. The entrée of Mexican traffickers into the methamphetamine
production and distribution trade in the early 1990s resulted in a significant
increase in high-purity supplies of the drug.
In 1994, Mexican
national drug trafficking organizations operating out of Mexico and California
began to take control of the production and distribution of the methamphetamine
in the United States. What was once controlled by independent, regionalized
outlaw motorcycle gangs was taken over by major Mexican organizations
and independent operators based in Mexico and California. Mexican national
trafficking organizations now dominate wholesale methamphetamine trafficking,
using large-scale laboratories based in Mexico and the western and southwestern
United States. Outlaw motorcycle gangs are still active in methamphetamine
production, but do not produce the large quantities that are distributed
by Mexican groups.
In the early to mid-1990s,
Mexican organizations had ready access to precursor chemicals on the international
market. These chemicals had fewer controls in Mexico and overseas than
in the United States. The Mexican national organizations further developed
existing international connections with chemical suppliers in Europe,
Asia, and the Far East, and were able to obtain ton quantities of the
necessary precursor chemicals, specifically bulk ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
From their experience
in the trafficking of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, the Mexican organizations
already had well-established transportation routes. Initially offering
inexpensive, high-purity methamphetamine, the Mexican organizations ultimately
gained a foothold in the existing United States market and expanded their
operations. Since they produced their own drug, they maintained greater
control of the methamphetamine market and reaped greater profits than
with the distribution of other drugs. It should be noted that high-purity
methamphetamine produced by the Mexican groups, in combination with the
marketing strategy of providing free samples, created new population of
addicts.
Until 1999, the methamphetamine
problem was increasing at an alarming rate. International chemical control
efforts, particularly the international "letter of non-objection" program
enacted in 1995, reduced the supply of those chemicals needed to produce
high-quality methamphetamine. As a result, the national purity level for
methamphetamine, as well as amphetamine, has gone down dramatically. The
average purity of methamphetamine exhibits seized by DEA dropped from
71.9 percent in 1994 to 30.7 percent in 1999, rising slightly to 34.6
percent in 2000. Emergency room mentions and overdose deaths involving
methamphetamine show an analogous decrease.
With the success
of the international efforts to control the flow of bulk ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine, such as bilateral meetings and the letter of non-objection
program, Mexican traffickers turned to tableted forms of the precursors
in the U.S. In 1997 and 1998, the vast majority of methamphetamine laboratories
operated by Mexican organizations that were seized in California obtained
their precursor chemicals from sources in the United States. The Mexican
organizations obtained their precursors from chemical wholesalers, rogue
chemical companies, and back door/blackmarket sales of large quantities
of ephedrine/pseudoephedrine tablets from unscrupulous retail and convenience
store operators.
Marijuana
Trafficking Across The U.S./Mexico Border
Drug trafficking
organizations operating from Mexico have smuggled marijuana into the United
States for over 20 years and are responsible for supplying most of the
foreign marijuana available in the United States. Virtually all the marijuana
smuggled into the United States, whether grown in Mexico or shipped through
Mexico from lesser sources such as Central America, is smuggled across
the U.S./Mexico Border.
Drug trafficking
organizations employ a wide range of methods to transport the marijuana.
The most common method is to smuggle marijuana in bulk quantities by truck
and smaller quantities in vehicle tires, fuel tanks, seats, or false compartments.
Traffickers use various vehicles to cross POEs: commercial vehicles, private
automobiles, pickup trucks, vans, mobile homes, and horse trailers. Marijuana
also is hidden inside agricultural products, and is smuggled across the
border by horse, raft, and backpack. There are also sporadic reports of
marijuana being smuggled via private aircraft; however, field offices
do not consider border crossings by air to be a significant threat. They
do report that private aircraft are used to smuggle marijuana up to the
border on the Mexico side where large quantities of marijuana are stockpiled.
The primary routes for marijuana, however, remain the overland routes.
MDMA Trafficking
Across The U.S./Mexico Border
In the future, Mexico
may increasingly be used as a transit zone for MDMA entering the United
States. In the year 2000, several seizures of MDMA en route or in Mexico
were reported. For example, in September 2000, Dutch authorities seized
a 1.25 million-tablet shipment of MDMA destined for Mexico. On November
20, 2000, approximately 64,000 Ecstasy pills were seized at the Mexico
City Airport.
Confronting
the Threat: A Balanced Response
Given the expanse
of the U.S./Mexico Border, it is clear that no single agency can "control"
the border or completely filter illegal drugs from the massive quantities
of legitimate commercial cargo that flow across our borders each day.
Accordingly, DEA continues to implement a balanced approach to confronting
the drug threat posed by the criminal organizations exploiting our U.S./Mexico
Border. The elements of this approach range from capitalizing on the latest
advances in telecommunications technology, to our adhering to basic, time-honored
principles of interagency cooperation. As evidenced by the following program
descriptions, DEA is continuously working to generate innovative enforcement
initiatives that will serve to immobilize the most sophisticated international
drug trafficking organizations operating today.
DEA's strategic approach
to targeting major drug trafficking organizations is to initiate and pursue
high impact, intelligence-driven, multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction/multi-nation
investigations that employ a combination of intelligence, investigative
technology support, and the coordinated efforts of DEA and its federal,
state, local, and foreign law enforcement counterparts. By strategically
and comprehensively targeting international command and control centers
of drug syndicates based overseas in conjunction with their domestic entry
and transshipment routes and local distribution points, DEA has been able
to dismantle drug organizations in virtually all arenas. This approach
requires DEA's foreign and domestic enforcement, intelligence, and technology
elements to work collectively to transform isolated investigations into
large-scale, multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction/multi-nation investigations.
In 1991, DEA established
the Special Operations Division (SOD), a program that utilizes sophisticated
technology to coordinate the investigative and intelligence resources
of the DEA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Customs
Service (USCS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target the command,
control, and communications of major drug trafficking organizations. These
investigations are also coordinated with attorneys from the Department
of Justice's Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs section. SOD performs the following
mission-critical functions:
- Provides significant
up-to-date, real-time intelligence to field investigators;
- Coordinates and
supports complex investigations and prosecutions of multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction,
and international targets;
- Focuses sophisticated
Title III technology and assets against specific targets;
- Manages and oversees
DEA's contract linguist program and prioritizes use of limited Title
III resources; and
- Links and transforms
isolated, local investigations conducted by single agencies into multi-agency,
coordinated enforcement operations against multiple targets operating
at regional, national, and international levels.
As the lead agency,
DEA performs mission oversight responsibilities and provides the primary
administrative services necessary to support the program's overall operations.
DEA works closely with its partner agencies to set priorities and ensure
a continued high degree of coordination and information sharing on supported
investigations. SOD is currently staffed with a total of 228 personnel
from DEA and other federal agencies. Of these personnel, 102 are DEA employees
(48 Special Agents).
Southwest
Border Initiative
One of DEA's primary
functions is to coordinate the many drug investigations taking place along
America's roughly 2,000-mile border with Mexico, an effort that involves
literally thousands of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers.
As the threat from Mexican based poly-drug trafficking organizations continues
to escalate, the workload steadily increases. Much of this increased workload
is due to expansion by Mexican based traffickers into new geographic regions
of the U.S., particularly the Midwest. Mexican based traffickers have
become the world's preeminent drug traffickers, and their organizations
are generally complex in nature and characterized by a high propensity
for violence.
To counter this threat,
federal drug law enforcement has aggressively pursued drug trafficking
along the U.S./Mexico border. Through a cooperative and coordinated enforcement
effort, DEA, the FBI, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S.
Customs Service, and state and local law enforcement agencies have worked
together to reduce the amount of illicit drugs entering the United States
through the U.S./Mexico Border. The Southwest Border Initiative is intended
to counter drug activity by identifying, penetrating, disrupting, and
dismantling the major Mexican and Colombian based drug trafficking organizations
using the border to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States. The
strategy is to attack major Mexican based trafficking organizations on
both sides of the border simultaneously, employing enhanced intelligence
and enforcement initiatives, and cooperative efforts with the Government
of Mexico.
As indicated by the
case examples below, the Southwest Border Initiative has built a record
of success in targeting, immobilizing, and dismantling major drug trafficking
organizations.
Operation
Green Air (Marijuana) was a multi-jurisdictional investigation
targeting a Mexican/Jamaican marijuana smuggling and distribution organization
with ties to Traditional Organized Crime. The organization smuggled multi-thousand
pound quantities of marijuana by trucks and other conveyances from Mexico
through U.S. Ports of Entry in Southern California to warehouses in the
greater Los Angeles area. Several corrupt warehouse employees shipped
the marijuana via Federal Express to distribution cells on the East Coast.
Operation Green Air culminated in April 2000 with a nationwide takedown
that resulted in the seizure of more than 15.25 tons of marijuana, $4,546,384
in U.S. currency, and the arrest of 106 individuals.
Operation
Impunity II (Cocaine) was a multi-jurisdictional investigation
targeting a Mexican drug trafficking organization responsible for the
transportation and distribution of multi-hundred kilogram shipments of
cocaine from Mexico to cities throughout the United States. This investigation
targeted remnants of the Carrillo-Fuentes Organization and the Gulf Cartel
Organization. Operation Impunity II culminated in December 2000 with a
nationwide takedown that produced the seizure of 5,266 kilograms of cocaine,
9,325 pounds of marijuana, $9,663,265 in U.S. currency/assets, and the
arrest of 141 individuals.
Operation
Tar Pit (Heroin) was a multi-jurisdictional investigation targeting
a Mexican heroin transportation and trafficking organization based in
Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. Primarily, this organization imported multi-kilogram
quantities of black tar heroin from Mexico into the United States. The
heroin was transported to the greater Los Angeles area and distributed
to organization cell heads throughout the U.S., including San Diego, CA;
Bakersfield, CA; Honolulu, HI; Portland, OR; Denver, CO; Cleveland, OH;
Columbus, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Yuma, AZ; Albuquerque, NM;
and Charleston, WV. In June 2000, a multi-nation takedown was conducted
against Operation Tar Pit targets that included the principal Mexican
command and control members in Mexico; U.S. based cell heads, workers
for each cell, and couriers. This investigation culminated in the seizure
of 64 pounds of black tar heroin, 10 weapons, $304,450 in U.S. currency,
and the arrest of 249 individuals.
Operation
Mountain Express (Pseudoephedrine) was a DEA operation that targeted
traffickers of the methamphetamine precursor, pseudoephedrine. Existing
regulations allowed DEA registrants to obtain multi-ton quantities of
tablet pseudoephedrine from gray-market importers. California-based Mexican
production organizations took advantage of this fact by purchasing ton
quantities of pseudoephedrine for use in methamphetamine production. Since
January 2000, several multi-jurisdictional investigations targeting pseudoephedrine
traffickers have been conducted. For the first time in U.S. drug law enforcement
history, the illicit trafficking of pseudoephedrine was traced from bulk
importers to rogue registrants and eventually to pseudoephedrine extraction
laboratories. Operation Mountain Express resulted in the arrest of 189
individuals and the seizure of more than 12.5 tons of pseudoephedrine,
83 pounds of finished methamphetamine, $11,100,000 million in U.S. currency,
and real property in excess of $1,000,000.
Operation
Gas Mask (Precursor Chemicals) is a recently completed investigation
targeting a California based supplier of HCL gas to Mexican national methamphetamine
production organizations. This investigation resulted in the seizure of
10 operational methamphetamine Super Labs, 5 pseudoephedrine extraction
labs, 497 gallons of methamphetamine in solution, 140 pound of finished
methamphetamine, and assets totaling $1.5 million. Additionally, Operation
Gas Mask resulted in the arrest of 48 individuals including Mexican National
laboratory operators, chemical brokers, the California based supplier
of HCL gas and two suppliers of solvents and reagents.
Eduviko Garcia
Organization (Mexican Methamphetamine) Recently, DEA concluded
an investigation which targeted the Eduviko Garcia methamphetamine organization.
Garcia received methamphetamine through a Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, based
facilitator who in turn received methamphetamine from a variety of Mexican
based sources. Methamphetamine seized in the Garcia investigation has
been tied to Francisco Zarragoza, a methamphetamine source based in Guadalajara,
Mexico. The Garcia investigation resulted in enforcement actions in the
states of Texas, Indiana, Washington, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Kansas,
and Kentucky and resulted in the seizure of 53 pounds of methamphetamine,
18 kilograms of cocaine, and the arrest of 50 individuals.
Other
Enforcement Operations
Highway interdiction
is central to drug enforcement, especially on the U.S./Mexico Border,
since a vast number of seizures occur at checkpoint stops within 150 miles
of the border in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. In addition
to their drug and money seizures, state, local, and federal agencies generate
valuable intelligence on trafficking patterns, concealment methods, and
cell membership and structure. Presently, there are drug interdiction
programs promoted and monitored by the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC),
but carried out by state and local law enforcement officials. The operations
are carried out along the highways and interstates most often used by
trafficking organizations to move illegal drugs north and east, and illicit
money south and west.
With DEA support,
state and local highway officers are able to execute controlled deliveries
of the drug shipments that they seize, thereby expanding the scope of
their own investigations. These programs consist of three elements: training,
real-time communication, and analytical support. With support from EPIC,
training schools in support of these programs are designed and delivered
to state and local highway officers across the nation. The training and
implementation of these programs are conducted in accordance with the
Attorney General's guidelines for Fairness in Law Enforcement, and prohibit
the use of race, ethnicity, or nationality as the sole basis for initiating
law enforcement interdiction of suspected drug traffickers.
High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Forces
The mission of ONDCP's
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program is to reduce drug
trafficking activities in the most critical areas of the country, thereby
lessening the impact of these areas on other regions of the country. The
HIDTA program strengthens America's drug control efforts by intensifying
the impact of drug control agencies through the development of partnerships
between federal, state, and local drug control agencies in designated
regions and by creating effective systems for them to synchronize their
efforts.
There are 28 established
HIDTAs and 43 Investigative Support Centers (ISCs). with EPIC serving
as the "national hub" for the HIDTA ISCs. EPIC has re-organized to implement
this mission and has created a new HIDTA Coordination Unit that serves
has the focal point for EPIC's relationship with the HIDTA ISCs. DEA recently
approved the placement of 14 supervisory Intelligence Analyst positions
in selected HIDTA ISCs and has proposed additional Intelligence Analyst
positions in the FY 2002 budget to further enhance intelligence support
to the HIDTA program.
Since the initiation
of the program in 1990, the HIDTA program has expanded to 28 areas around
the country, including one HIDTA that is comprised of five partnerships
along the U.S./Mexico Border. These HIDTA Southwest Border Partnerships
are located in San Diego, Tucson, Las Cruces, W. Texas, and San Antonio,
and address important local issues such as methamphetamine trafficking,
commercial interdiction, and intelligence collection.
With a strong infusion
of DEA intelligence analytical resources, guidance, and expertise, the
HIDTA intelligence program has become part of the nationwide effort to
develop effective mechanisms for the collection and sharing of intelligence
information that can be applied in the enforcement arena.
Intelligence
Operations
The intelligence
collection process is critical to the interdiction of drugs. Each time
we dismantle an organization, DEA gains vital intelligence about the organization
to use, both to further additional investigative efforts, and to increase
the accuracy of intelligence information provided to the interdiction
operations conducted by other law enforcement agencies. The domestic and
international aspects of trafficking organizations are inextricably woven
together. U.S. law enforcement must be able to successfully attack the
command and control functions of these international drug trafficking
syndicates on all fronts if ultimate success in diminishing the operational
effectiveness of these organizations is to be achieved.
Collocation
of Law Enforcement Assets
In addition to conducting
numerous joint investigations with the United States Customs Service (USCS),
DEA is working to optimize the operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness
of U.S./Mexico Border operations conducted with other DOJ components,
such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS). Public Law 106-553, which was signed by
the President on December 12, 2000, states, "DEA is also directed to better
coordinate its operations with other Federal Agencies, including INS and
FBI, along the U.S./Mexico Border, and to pursue co-location of offices
whereas practical."
A Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) has been drafted and is currently pending endorsement by administrative
program managers from DEA, FBI, and INS. By adhering to the provisions
of this MOU, the enforcement components of the Justice Department will
coordinate the review of their respective facility lease terms, and determine
compatible opportunities for collocation.
Conclusion:
Drug trafficking
organizations operating along the U.S./Mexico Border which are controlled
by Mexican based kingpins continue to be one of the greatest threats to
communities across this great nation. As a result of their alliances with
Colombian organizations, Mexico based drug trafficking organizations increasingly
have become organized, specialized, and efficient, with individual components
steadily consolidating power and control over well-defined areas of responsibility
and geographic strongholds. The power and influence of these organizations
is pervasive, and continues to expand to new markets across the United
States.
The DEA is deeply
committed to intensifying our efforts to identify, target, arrest, and
incapacitate the leadership of these criminal drug trafficking organizations.
The combined investigations of DEA, FBI, the U.S. Customs Service, and
members of other federal, state, and local police departments continue
to result in the seizure of hundreds of tons of drugs, hundreds of millions
of dollars in drug proceeds, and the indictments of significant drug traffickers,
and the dismantling of the command and control elements of their organizations.
Cooperative investigations
will continue to serve to send a strong message to all drug traffickers
that the U.S. law enforcement communities will not sit idle as these organizations
threaten the welfare of our citizens and the security of our towns and
cities.
The principal leaders
of major drug trafficking organizations fear the threat of extradition
to the United States more than any other law enforcement or judicial tool.
Extradition of significant traffickers ensures that those responsible
for the command and control of illicit activities, including drug smuggling
and money laundering, will be held totally accountable for their actions
and serve a prison sentence commensurate with their crimes.
In Mexico, the newly
installed Fox Administration has given every indication of their intention
to work as equal partners with American drug law enforcement, and we look
forward to our future endeavors with optimism. Hopefully, these new endeavors
will include the successful extradition of major Mexican based traffickers
to the United States.
Mr. Chairman, thank
you for the opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee today. I would
be happy to answer any questions that you or other members of the Subcommittee
may have at the appropriate time.
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