Drug Threat Overview

The NY/NJ HIDTA region is a national distribution center for illicit drugs, principally cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Multikilogram to ton quantities of these drugs are transported to the region by air, land, and sea conveyances from drug source and transit countries such as Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Mexico as well as from other domestic locations, including Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Southwest. Once in the region, drug shipments typically are broken down into smaller quantities for further distribution within the region and transported to cities throughout the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest.

Cocaine and heroin pose the most significant threats to the HIDTA region. Cocaine represents the greatest threat to the New York section of the HIDTA region, while heroin represents the greatest threat to the New Jersey section. Cocaine is frequently abused throughout the area, and crack cocaine distribution poses an increasing threat to New York City and the Upstate New York counties because this drug is becoming the primary source of income for several violent street gangs. Heroin is frequently abused in the HIDTA region, and its abuse is rapidly spreading to new and younger populations. Heroin-related admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities in the region far exceed those of any other drug, and heroin is increasingly being milled,⁵ repacked into retail quantities in the HIDTA region.

Other illegal drugs pose a serious threat to the NY/NJ HIDTA. Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the region; Canadian hydroponic marijuana poses a serious threat to the Upstate New York HIDTA counties. This high-potency marijuana is increasingly available and abused in the HIDTA's upstate counties, particularly among young people and college students. Crystal methamphetamine poses a lesser, yet increasing, threat to the HIDTA region; the drug is rising in popularity and may be spreading to a wider abuser population. Recent law enforcement seizures indicate that the number of small clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in the HIDTA region may be increasing. MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), diverted pharmaceuticals, and other dangerous drugs (ODDs) pose a relatively low threat to the HIDTA region.

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Drug Trafficking Organizations

Colombian DTOs control much of the smuggling and distribution of wholesale quantities of cocaine and SA heroin in the HIDTA region, and they typically contract with other DTOs to transport drugs from source and transit areas, such as Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, to the area. In the interest of safeguarding their operations, most Colombian organizations have ceded transportation and lower-level distribution tasks to Dominican and Mexican DTOs who want to increase their share in the HIDTA region's drug trade. Colombian DTOs contract with these groups to transport large quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana from the Southwest Border area to stash locations in the area. They also contract with Dominican DTOs to smuggle drugs, principally cocaine, from South America and the Caribbean into the Port of New York/New Jersey and heroin into the region's major airports by couriers on commercial aircraft. The couriers recruited come from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds. Couriers sometimes transport cocaine and heroin into Miami International Airport and drive the shipment to the HIDTA region in private and commercial vehicles.

Dominican organizations are major transporters and distributors of cocaine and SA heroin in the HIDTA region. They are based primarily in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan but maintain most of their stash locations in outlying suburban communities in Westchester County and Long Island. Some Dominican DTOs travel to the Southwest Border area or the Caribbean to obtain large quantities of cocaine and heroin for transport to the HIDTA region, either under contract with Colombian DTOs or acting independently. Other Dominican organizations contract with Mexican DTOs to transport the drugs from the Southwest Border to the HIDTA region. Dominican DTOs also purchase large quantities of cocaine and heroin from Colombian organizations in the area, particularly in Queens. The Dominican DTOs then supply lower-level distributors, predominantly Dominican groups, throughout the region and, increasingly, in the counties in Upstate New York. Some Dominican DTOs also deliver cocaine and heroin to their regular customers in these upstate areas. Dominican DTOs reportedly use security measures⁶ and violent means to protect their distribution activities.

Mexican DTOs are a major player in the HIDTA region's drug trade, particularly in the transportation and distribution of cocaine. Mexican DTOs have well-established overland transportation networks that allow them to be the primary transporters of cocaine to the HIDTA region. They also work with Colombian DTOs by transporting SA heroin and marijuana from Mexico and the Southwest Border area to the region, often receiving payment for services in drugs. Mexican DTOs are deeply involved in drug distribution within the HIDTA region as well, acting as wholesale distributors of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana that they distribute primarily to Dominican DTOs in the New York metropolitan area and Upstate New York. Some Mexican DTOs also transport marijuana from areas near the Southwest Border to New York City and northern New Jersey on behalf of Jamaican criminal organizations based in the HIDTA region.

Jamaican DTOs are the most prominent marijuana distributors in the New York City metropolitan area. They typically obtain Mexican marijuana from Mexican suppliers along the Southwest Border and transport the drugs to the HIDTA region themselves, although they sometimes contract with Mexican DTOs in Arizona to transport the marijuana for them. Jamaican DTOs and posses⁷ are the primary distributors of marijuana in sections of Manhattan and the Bronx, most of Queens (particularly the Jamaica section of southwestern Queens), northern Brooklyn (particularly Bedford, Bushwick, East Flatbush, East New York, and Williamsburg), and sections of northern New Jersey.

Ethnic Chinese DTOs, primarily Fukinese⁸ groups, are major smugglers of Southeast Asian (SEA) heroin into the region, using containerized cargo and couriers on commercial aircraft. They often hire Asian street gangs⁹ to distribute the heroin at the street level, sometimes selling the heroin on consignment rather than requiring payment up-front. Law enforcement reporting indicates that their operations are expanding in the HIDTA region.

Numerous street gangs are involved in the retail-level distribution of drugs, particularly crack, throughout the NY/NJ HIDTA region. Drug sales represent the primary source of income for most street gangs in the area, and most gangs sell more than one type of drug at a time. Street gangs active in the HIDTA region include Latin Kings, Ņeta, Bloods, Crips, and Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13). New York City-based gangs are expanding their presence into the HIDTA's upstate counties, as well as areas in New England, where profit margins are much larger. The involvement of street gangs in the retail-level distribution of cocaine and heroin in the New Jersey and Upstate New York areas of the HIDTA is rising, a development that has led to increased violence in those areas.

Other organizations have a lesser, but still significant, impact on the HIDTA region. Nigerian, West African, and Pakistani DTOs smuggle heroin into and through the NY/NJ HIDTA region.¹⁰ Israeli DTOs transport large quantities of MDMA from Europe to the area and distribute the drug at the wholesale level. Italian Organized Crime (IOC) "families" distribute marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and MDMA in the HIDTA region and are involved in hydroponic marijuana production. Various Caribbean DTOs also smuggle cocaine and marijuana to the HIDTA region and generally distribute these drugs within their own ethnic communities.

End Notes

5. Heroin that is repacked into retail quantities.
6. Booby traps, electronic surveillance, etc.
7. A Jamaican posse or crew is similar in structure to a street gang and engages in many of the same kinds of activities.
8. Fukinese refers to individuals from the Fujian province of southeastern China.
9. Many of these gangs have realigned themselves with the Fukinese organizations and have adopted names such as "The Fuk Ching Flying Dragons," "The Fuk Ching Ghost Shadows," and "The Fuk Ching Green Dragons."
10. West African DTOs working out of Thailand and Africa smuggle both Southeast Asian (SEA) and Southwest Asian (SWA) heroin. Pakistani DTOs smuggle only SWA heroin.

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