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South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis
May 2007

Drug Overview

Mexican DTOs and local traffickers use South Texas as a smuggling corridor, staging area, transshipment zone, and distribution center for drug shipments from Mexico destined for markets in virtually every region of the United States, including markets in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Virginia. The proceeds from the sale of these illicit drugs are often laundered or transported through the South Texas HIDTA region en route to Mexico.

Law enforcement officers in South Texas seize more cocaine and heroin annually than law enforcement officers do in other areas along the Southwest Border, including West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Large quantities of marijuana and methamphetamine are also seized in South Texas, ranking South Texas behind only Arizona in the quantity of marijuana seized and behind California and Arizona in the quantity of methamphetamine seized. (See Table 1.) Law enforcement reporting indicates that methamphetamine smuggling is increasing and that availability of the drug appears to be increasing throughout the South Texas HIDTA region, despite a decrease in seizures in 2006.

Table 1. Drugs Seized in the United States Within 150 Miles of the U.S.-Mexico Border, in Kilograms, 2004-2006

Region Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Methamphetamine
2004 2005 2006 2004 2005 2006 2004 2005 2006 2004 2005 2006
South Texas 12,161 12,917 16,337 145 113 185 387,663 264,788 361,494 692 926 483
West Texas 2,912 2,277 1,693 40 24 93 176,671 152,162 131,580 65 103 3
New Mexico 898 296 648 0 6 4 47,595 43,983 46,068 62 36 40
Arizona 3,721 2,888 2,939 120 43 61 350,186 381,399 390,407 1,011 693 485
California 2,492 4,212 5,554 86 42 154 130,874 179,909 159,260 589 1,133 1,671
Total 22,184 22,589* 27,172* 391 229* 496* 1,092,988* 1,022,240* 1,088,809 2,419 2,890* 2,681*

Source: El Paso Intelligence Center, run date 04/11/2007.
*Totals may not add up because of rounding.

Illicit drug production in the South Texas HIDTA region is minimal and typically limited to methamphetamine and marijuana production as well as powder cocaine conversion to crack. Methamphetamine production has declined during the past year and is now concentrated primarily in San Antonio. Retail distributors convert powder cocaine into crack throughout the South Texas HIDTA region, but most crack conversion occurs in San Antonio, which now serves as a distribution center for crack cocaine destined for markets within an approximate 100-mile radius of the city. Limited cannabis cultivation also occurs in the area. Climatic and environmental conditions are not conducive to outdoor cannabis cultivation throughout much of South Texas, but traffickers do operate indoor cannabis grows in San Antonio.

San Antonio is the area in the South Texas HIDTA region most affected by the distribution and abuse of illicit drugs. The city has experienced increasing rates of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine abuse during the past several years, all of which are taxing already stressed law enforcement and public health resources.

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Drug Trafficking Organizations

Mexican DTOs control the illicit drug market in the South Texas HIDTA region through direct ties with sources of supply in Mexico and South America, established cross-border smuggling operations, and expansive wholesale distribution networks. From established bases of operation in Mexico and through operational cells in Brownsville, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Laredo, McAllen, and San Antonio, Mexican DTOs smuggle large amounts of illicit drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Gulf Cartel and The Alliance1 are the most influential large-scale Mexican DTOs operating in South Texas. The Gulf Cartel, based in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, has historically regulated drug smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas, primarily in the Mexican states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, through the use of "gatekeepers."2 The January 2007 extradition of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas-Guillen will most likely have a minimal effect on drug smuggling through South Texas. Established gatekeepers in Mexican border cities such as Matamoros, Reynosa, Miguel Alemán, Nuevo Laredo, Piedras Negras, and Ciudad Acuña will enable the organization to retain control of cross-border drug trafficking, at least in the near term. However, The Alliance launched a violent campaign in 2003 against the Gulf Cartel after the arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas-Guillen in an attempt to gain control of the corridor leading to the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas; much of the violence has been centered in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo. The Alliance has so far failed to wrest control of this key smuggling corridor from the Gulf Cartel.

Mexican DTOs operating in the South Texas HIDTA are extremely sophisticated, resilient, and adaptive to law enforcement actions. Many of these DTOs, particularly those affiliated with the Gulf Cartel and The Alliance, possess communications technology, advanced weaponry, and intelligence capabilities that rival or surpass U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement capabilities. Using specialized communications devices, Mexican DTOs are able to break the encrypted radio transmissions of law enforcement agencies at the border. Unlimited budgets allow Mexican DTOs to purchase assault weapons and military-grade weaponry that they use to protect drug shipments from rival traffickers and law enforcement officers. Mexican DTOs have also established extensive intelligence and counterintelligence networks on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border to monitor law enforcement efforts aimed at disrupting or dismantling their drug trafficking operations. They have even hired private armies consisting of former Mexican soldiers to handle security and enforcement activities.

Some Mexican DTOs have diversified their criminal activities from drug trafficking to other profit-generating criminal endeavors. They are heavily involved in firearms trafficking and automobile theft and are becoming more active in alien smuggling, extortion, and kidnappings for ransom. Some of these criminal activities lack a direct drug nexus; however, the proceeds invariably support drug trafficking operations in South Texas.

Mexican DTOs have established ties with local prison and street gangs--ties that provide them with even greater leverage over the South Texas HIDTA region. Both the Gulf Cartel and The Alliance use various gangs in South Texas to perform enforcement activities, including kidnappings and murders. Gangs such as Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos (HPL), Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13), Mexikanemi, also known as Texas Mexican Mafia, and Texas Syndicate have been linked to the drug trafficking activities of large-scale Mexican DTOs.

Mexican DTOs supply local prison and street gangs such as HPL, MS 13, Raza Unida, Tri-City Bombers, Latin Kings, Texas Syndicate, and Mexikanemi with wholesale and retail quantities of illicit drugs for distribution throughout South Texas. Mexikanemi is the most influential. The gang is based in San Antonio but maintains a network of street dealers throughout South Texas. In addition to receiving drug supplies from Mexican DTOs, Mexikanemi also smuggles illicit drugs into the country from Mexico on its own behalf.


End Notes

1. The Alliance, also known as The Federation, is a cooperating group of Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) that share resources such as transportation routes and money launderers. The Alliance was formed in 2003 to counter the Gulf Cartel.
2. Gatekeepers are individuals who manage geographically specific entry points along the U.S.-Mexico border and are responsible for "taxing" and protecting illicit drug shipments.


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