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Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis
June 2007

Transportation

Mexican DTOs exercise substantial control over the smuggling of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, Mexican black tar heroin, and other drugs (see text box) across the California-Mexico border and into the Los Angeles HIDTA region, and pose formidable challenges for law enforcement officers. According to law enforcement and intelligence reporting, relatively few traffickers smuggle illicit drugs through plazas8 along the California-Mexico border without the Mexican DTOs' knowledge, approval, and financial remuneration. Mexican DTOs and criminal groups as well as various other traffickers (Colombian, Jamaican, Asian, Israeli, Russian, Caucasian, and African American) transport illicit drugs to and through the HIDTA region on numerous roadways, including Interstates 5 and 15. These roadways connect the HIDTA region directly to POEs along the California-Mexico (see Figure 3) and the U.S.-Canada borders as well as to other U.S. source areas. For example, Asian and Caucasian criminal groups and independent dealers transport MDMA and high-potency Canadian marijuana into the Los Angeles HIDTA region overland in private vehicles from northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and Canada. In addition, some drug transporters, including some in Europe and Asia, smuggle illicit drugs through the international air and maritime ports situated in or near the Los Angeles HIDTA region, which further augments the HIDTA's role as an illicit drug transportation center. Some of the drugs produced in or smuggled to the HIDTA region are transported to other U.S. destinations. For example, Mexican DTOs and criminal groups smuggle illicit drugs to the HIDTA region overland from Mexico for local distribution and transship additional quantities through the HIDTA region for distribution in various Pacific, Northwest, Southwest, and Midwest cities. These groups also are transporting illicit drugs from Mexico through Arizona and other Southwest Border areas for distribution in the Los Angeles HIDTA region and in drug markets supplied by traffickers in the Los Angeles HIDTA region.

Fentanyl Smuggled Through the Los Angeles HIDTA Region

In November 2006 the Riverside County Sheriff's Department seized approximately 2 kilograms of fentanyl, a Schedule II synthetic opiate that was produced in Colima, Mexico, and was being smuggled through the Los Angeles HIDTA region for distribution outside the region. Fentanyl has become a significant problem in many U.S. locations, primarily because ingesting a small amount (half a milligram) could be fatal; however, the drug does not currently pose a significant problem in the Los Angeles HIDTA region. Nonetheless, this seizure suggests that DTOs are smuggling the drug from Mexico through the HIDTA region for distribution outside the region and, possibly, within the Los Angeles area.

Source: Inland Narcotics Clearing House.

Figure 3. Los Angeles HIDTA transportation infrastructure.

Map showing Los Angeles HIDTA transportation infrastructure.
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End Note

8. A plaza is a geographic area in which drug smuggling is controlled by a drug trafficking organization (DTO).


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