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Drug Trafficking Organizations

Colombian and Dominican DTOs based in New York City are the primary wholesale distributors of cocaine and SA heroin in the W/B HIDTA region; Mexican DTOs are increasingly becoming involved in cocaine and SA heroin transportation and lower-level distribution. Mexican DTOs and criminal groups based in the southern or western United States also transport and distribute most of the marijuana available in the region; they also supply significant quantities of cocaine. An increasing number of Mexican traffickers are transporting large quantities of methamphetamine into Virginia, particularly the Shenandoah Valley region adjacent to the HIDTA region.

 
Drug Trafficking Organizations, Criminal Groups, and Gangs

Drug trafficking organizations are complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantities of one or more illicit drugs.

Criminal groups operating in the United States are numerous and range from small to moderately sized, loosely knit groups that distribute one or more drugs at the retail level and midlevel.

Gangs are defined by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Associations as groups or associations of three or more persons with a common identifying sign, symbol, or name, the members of which individually or collectively engage in criminal activity that creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
  

Other DTOs and criminal groups also distribute illicit drugs at the wholesale level in the HIDTA region. Jamaican criminal groups supply commercial-grade marijuana from Florida and the Caribbean, while Vietnamese criminal groups are the principal suppliers of high-potency marijuana (Canadian and locally produced) and MDMA from Canada. Middle Eastern, Pakistani, and West African DTOs distribute Southwest Asian (SWA) heroin, primarily in Baltimore. Law enforcement reports indicate that Central American DTOs and criminal groups, including Guatemalans and Salvadorans, are increasing their involvement in cocaine trafficking in the HIDTA region.

Neighborhood-based street gangs, or local "crews," are the principal retail illicit drug distributors in the W/B HIDTA region, particularly for crack cocaine and heroin. Gang activity remains a principal public safety concern in some areas of the region, primarily because of violence related to gang drug trafficking.

 
"Operation Smackdown" Disrupts Heroin Distribution by Baltimore Gang

A federal grand jury indicted eight Baltimore drug gang members for their alleged participation in a conspiracy to distribute over $20,000 worth of heroin daily in south Baltimore. According to court documents, the gang had been responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin from 2005 to 2007 in various parts of south Baltimore through street-level distribution "shops." The shops included vacant residences, lightly traveled side streets, rear alleys, and similarly desolate locations selected to avoid police detection. A shop typically operated from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 7 days a week. The gang used several heroin stash locations to resupply the dealers.

Source: Drug Enforcement Administration.
  

National-level street gangs also conduct drug distribution operations in the HIDTA region. Hispanic gangs, including 18th Street, Latin Kings, and Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13), are particularly problematic in northern Virginia and Maryland suburbs surrounding Washington, D.C. MS 13 members moved into the HIDTA region from Los Angeles, California, and established a presence in northern Virginia, particularly in the cities of Fairfax, Herndon, and Reston; members later migrated to the nearby counties of Montgomery, Prince William, and Prince George's, Maryland. MS 13 members engage in drug distribution and other criminal activities including aggravated assault and homicide in these communities. African American Bloods and Crips sets also distribute drugs and engage in other criminal activities in the region. Baltimore County Police Department gang investigators reported in early 2008 that there had been several attempts by Bloods street gang members to infiltrate the public safety sector by applying for positions within the Department of Corrections. Bloods sets, such as Tree Top Piru and 9-Tre Gangsters, are active in Salisbury, Maryland. Black Dragons, an Asian street gang based in Monterey, California, distributes MDMA and marijuana in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

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Production

Illicit drug production in the W/B HIDTA region is limited to the conversion of powder cocaine to crack and to occasional marijuana and methamphetamine production.

Most of the powder cocaine purchased by retail distributors is converted to crack prior to distribution within the region. Retail-level crack distributors typically purchase kilogram or lesser quantities of powder cocaine from midlevel suppliers within the W/B HIDTA region, primarily in urban areas such as Baltimore, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. They then take the powder cocaine to their home areas and convert it to crack, typically in residential settings.

Limited amounts of marijuana are produced in the W/B HIDTA region from cannabis cultivated at both indoor and outdoor grow sites. However, the amount of marijuana produced at indoor grow sites, especially in the Baltimore and Richmond areas, may be increasing as demand for high-potency marijuana rises in these areas. Various marijuana producers in the region, particularly Vietnamese criminal groups, are increasingly replicating methods used at indoor grow sites in Canada, such as using elaborate hydroponic equipment, bypassing electrical meters, and using entire buildings for grow operations. Additionally, many rural areas within the region are conducive to outdoor cannabis plots because of the temperate climate and the large areas of remote terrain, such as deep valleys, steep and rocky hillsides, and vast wooded areas. As such, law enforcement officials recognize the potential for an increase in outdoor cannabis cultivation. DEA officials in Baltimore report that many outdoor plots in Maryland appear to have been started indoors and generally contain fewer than 60 plants.

Powder methamphetamine production in the HIDTA region is limited. The number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories and dumpsites seized in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., dropped dramatically from 79 in 2004 to 22 in 2007 (see Table 1). However, during that 4-year period, only four laboratory seizures were recorded in the HIDTA region--one in April 2004 in Prince William County; one in October 2004 in Washington, D.C.; one in December 2006 in Henrico County, and one in June 2007 in Silver Spring, Maryland, where a well-equipped methamphetamine laboratory1 was seized by DEA in an apartment. Most local laboratory capacities range from multigram to multiounce production. Methamphetamine laboratories are found in rural areas, in warehouses or storage facilities, or on remote land; often the laboratories are nonoperational at the time of seizure. Declining methamphetamine production is most likely the result of increased law enforcement pressure and Virginia legislation restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine.

Table 1. Methamphetamine Laboratory Incidentsa in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, 2003-2007

YEAR DC MD VA Total
2007 0 0 22 22
2006 0 3 21 24
2005 0 3 51 54
2004 1 1 77 79
2003 0 2 31 33

Source: National Seizure System data as of April 14, 2008.
a. Methamphetamine laboratory incidents include seizures of laboratories, dumpsites, chemicals, glassware, and equipment.


End Note

1. This methamphetamine laboratory seizure is not reflected in National Seizure System (NSS) data found in Table 1.


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