Production

National Drug Intelligence Center
North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis
June 2007

Illicit drug production in the North Florida HIDTA region primarily entails conversion of powder to crack cocaine, indoor cannabis cultivation, and limited methamphetamine and MDMA production. Powder cocaine is converted to crack by African American street gangs in the region, particularly in northwest Jacksonville. Most cannabis is cultivated at indoor grow sites in the North Florida HIDTA region. In 2006 law enforcement officials seized 2,728 plants at indoor grow sites within the 10 North Florida HIDTA counties. (See Table 1.) Cannabis is cultivated by independent Caucasian traffickers throughout the region, and law enforcement officials report that Hispanic traffickers, particularly Cuban DTOs, are increasingly producing high-potency marijuana from cannabis that they cultivate at indoor grow sites in North Florida.

Table 1. Marijuana Plants Seized from Indoor Grow Sites in the North Florida HIDTA Region, by County, 2006

County	Number of Plants Seized
Alachua	491
Baker	5
Clay	95
Columbia	0
Duval	1,692
Flagler	4
Marion	16
Nassau	104
Putnam	321
St. Johns	0
Total	2,728

Source: Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program; State of Florida Domestic Marijuana Eradication Program.

Indoor Cannabis Grow Sites

According to law enforcement officials, indoor cannabis cultivation operations are increasingly being established within the North Florida HIDTA region, particularly in privately owned or rented residential homes. In Jacksonville, which is the largest and most densely populated city in the North Florida HIDTA region, law enforcement authorities dismantled at least 23 indoor cannabis cultivation grow sites between March 2005 and March 2006. The grow sites ranged from small grows with several small plants to large cultivation operations containing almost 200 plants. In several other cities and counties within the North Florida HIDTA, law enforcement authorities have reported an emerging trend in which DTOs rent homes in residential areas and use the entire home as an indoor grow site. The DTOs often pay other individuals or associates to live in the homes to cultivate plants and to provide the appearance of normal activity in the home. Most of the DTOs linked to these elaborate sites are not from the communities where the homes are rented, and several have been linked to Hispanic drug trafficking groups in South Florida and Cuba.

Methamphetamine production poses an ongoing concern for law enforcement and treatment providers throughout the region, particularly in rural areas; however, production is trending slightly downward as evidenced by an overall decrease in the number of methamphetamine laboratories seized in the region from 2005 to 2006. (See Table 2.) According to law enforcement authorities, methamphetamine laboratory operators may be scaling back their production operations in favor of distributing Mexican methamphetamine, from which they can derive higher profits.

Table 2. Number of Methamphetamine Laboratories Seized in the North Florida HIDTA, by County, 2002-2006^a

County	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Alachua	1	1	1	0	1
Clay	0	0	0	1	3
Columbia	0	2	0	0	0
Duval	0	1	0	4	6
Flagler	0	0	0	0	2
Marion	4	12	8	20	5
Putnam	1	0	1	1	3
St. Johns	1	0	1	0	2
Total	7	16	11	26	22

Source: National Seizure System, data run on 5/07/2007.
a. These data include seizures of laboratories, the chemicals and equipment used to produce methamphetamine, and dumpsites.

MDMA is reportedly produced in the North Florida HIDTA region; however, such production is limited and is not considered a significant threat by law enforcement officials. Only two MDMA laboratories were seized in the North Florida HIDTA region in 2006; both were seized in Clay County.¹

End Note

1. These data include seizures of laboratories as well as the chemicals and equipment used to produce MDMA.

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