Transportation

The Northern California HIDTA region's proximity to illicit drug source areas and a multifaceted transportation infrastructure enable traffickers to transport significant quantities of illicit drugs into the area. (See Figure 5.) The highway infrastructure provides direct access along several major routes to drug sources located in other areas of California, Mexico, and Canada. This infrastructure provides traffickers with the means to modify transportation routes or adapt to changes in source areas with limited interruption in supply. For instance, traffickers were able to obtain methamphetamine from sources in Mexico using I-5 and US 101 when methamphetamine production decreased in California.

Figure 5. Northern California HIDTA transportation infrastructure.

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Traffickers also transport a variety of illicit drugs into the HIDTA region through package delivery services and the mail system, predominantly from foreign sources. One of only 13 Customs International Mail Branches in the country (and one of three in the western United States) is located in Oakland. The high volume of packages transiting the area, particularly from Asia, make interdiction efforts at these facilities extremely challenging for U.S. Customs officials. The use of the Internet to purchase illicit drugs, particularly from foreign suppliers in Europe or Mexico, also has increased transportation by package delivery services and the mail system. The Internet has enabled independent dealers, who historically traveled to Mexico to obtain pharmaceuticals, steroids, or ketamine, to purchase these drugs online. The large number of online suppliers makes tracking illicit purchases through the Internet difficult. In addition, illicit drugs purchased online are commonly paid through Internet pay accounts, which require only limited personal information, further hindering law enforcement efforts.

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