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National Drug Intelligence Center
National Drug Threat Assessment 2007
October 2006
Appendix
C. 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 currently available statistical
data.
Florida/Caribbean
Regional Overview
Regional Overview
The Florida/Caribbean Region (FCR) encompasses Florida and
the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. There are four High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area (HIDTA) programs within the region--the Central, North,
and South Florida HIDTAs and the Puerto Rico HIDTA. The FCR also has four
U.S. Attorney Districts--three in Florida and one in Puerto Rico. Most of
the illicit drugs available in the FCR are transported from South American
and Caribbean countries; however, geographically, the FCR's proximity to
the Gulf Coast region is increasingly being exploited by traffickers to
smuggle drugs into the region overland from Mexico. Additionally, Mexican
DTOs increasingly are extending and expanding their distribution networks
into smaller and more rural communities of Florida as well as urban
regions previously controlled by other DTOs.
Drug Threat Overview
Cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, as well
as pharmaceuticals and other dangerous drugs (ODDs) pose varying threats
to the FCR. Cocaine and heroin pose the greatest threats to the FCR
because they are readily available and widely abused. Further, significant
quantities of cocaine and heroin transit the FCR en route to other parts
of the United States, especially the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regions.
Marijuana is the most widely available, abused, and seized drug in the FCR.
Indoor cultivation of high quality marijuana is an increasing problem in
the FCR. Moreover, some indoor growers in Florida are selling to wholesale
distributors in the Northeast. Methamphetamine poses a serious threat to
Florida. While precursor laws have caused a decline in methamphetamine
production at local laboratories, ice availability is rising, driven by
the increasing activity of Mexican DTOs. Pharmaceuticals typically are not
distributed by large-scale trafficking organizations; however, abuse of
these drugs, particularly powerful prescription opiates, is a serious and
ongoing public health concern. The threat posed by ODDs, including MDMA
(3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) and GHB
(gamma-hydroxybutyrate), is low and decreasing overall in the FCR;
however, distribution and abuse of these drugs are a concern in some
locations, particularly the large metropolitan areas of Florida.
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Strategic Regional Developments
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The increasing dominance of Mexican DTOs in wholesale
cocaine distribution in the eastern United States has altered the flow
of cocaine into the FCR. Nearly all cocaine previously available in
Florida was transported by Caribbean and South American DTOs from South
America through the Caribbean; however, large amounts of the drug are
now transported into the state by Mexican DTOs from Mexico and the
southwestern United States as well as southeastern cities such as
Atlanta.
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Indoor cannabis cultivation is significant and
increasing in the FCR. Marijuana produced indoors in Florida is
increasing in potency and often is transported to the New York and
Boston metropolitan areas.
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Methamphetamine is a significant and escalating problem
throughout Florida. Mexican DTOs are increasingly supplying large
quantities of high purity ice methamphetamine to distributors throughout
Florida, and availability and abuse have spread from rural areas of the
state to a number of cities, including Orlando and Tampa.
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In 2005 prescription drugs were found to be the cause of
or were present in more overdose deaths in Florida than all other
illicit drugs combined. Not only are prescription drugs a serious threat
in Florida, but abusers and people working for domestic, organized
prescription drug diversion rings based outside the FCR often travel to
South Florida, obtain prescriptions for and purchase supplies of these
drugs, and transport them home for use or resale.
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Each year millions of cargo containers enter ports in
the FCR; most of this cargo originates in drug source and transit
countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean. Typically,
fewer than 5 percent of containers are inspected--less than 1 percent
are opened and searched--by customs officials because of manpower
limitations.
Variations From National Trends
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The number of indoor cannabis grows in the FCR is likely
to increase significantly in the coming year. Marijuana abuse is
extremely widespread in the FCR. As many established abusers have been
exposed to the superior product, the popularity of marijuana grown
indoors will certainly continue to climb, enticing traffickers to
establish additional grow sites or to increase the size of existing
sites.
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The smuggling of illicit drugs into Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) in maritime cargo is expected to increase
over the next 4 years. The enactment of the Central America-Dominican
Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement in 2005--legislation
designed to eliminate trade barriers and tariffs among the
cosignatories--is being implemented by Costa Rica, the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua on a rolling
basis over the next year. Also, the construction of the Port of the
Americas in Ponce, Puerto Rico, is expected to be completed in the next
2 to 3 years. As commercial activity through Puerto Rico and the USVI
increases, DTOs in South and Central America may divert some additional
drug flow away from the Central America-Mexico land corridor to the
Caribbean corridor, particularly Puerto Rico.
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Although drug smuggling into the FCR via maritime cargo
vessels is expected to increase, the transportation of illicit drugs
into Puerto Rico and the USVI via go-fast boats will remain significant.
First, these vessels can rapidly transport substantial quantities of
drugs and offload them at locations inaccessible to larger cargo
vessels, including remote areas of the island region. Second, go-fast
operations are easier to coordinate than cargo smuggling operations,
which require interfacing with many more people to obtain access to a
particular port, vessel, and container. Third, using these vessels
allows trafficking organizations to maintain closer control of drugs
during transit, because the transporters typically work for the
organization or are contractors who are being directly paid by the
organization to move the drugs.
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