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National Drug Intelligence
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Mexican DTOs and criminal groups dominate wholesale drug distribution in the Northwest HIDTA region; they supply wholesale quantities of powder cocaine, commercial-grade Mexican marijuana, Mexican black tar heroin, and Mexican ice methamphetamine to various distributors, including other Mexican criminal groups, independent dealers, street gangs, and OMGs for midlevel and retail-level distribution.
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Arrests Target Methamphetamine Trafficking Ring Twenty-two members of a Mexico-based DTO were arrested in early April 2008 and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. The DTO allegedly distributed hundreds of pounds of ice methamphetamine in Washington each month that its members manufactured in Michoacán, Mexico, and smuggled to the state. Source: U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington. |
Canada-based Vietnamese DTOs and criminal groups are the primary wholesale distributors of high-potency Canadian marijuana and MDMA in the region. These traffickers supply these drugs to other local Asian criminal groups, street gangs, and OMGs for retail distribution, primarily within the Puget Sound area. Canada-based Vietnamese DTOs and criminal groups also use the region as a key transshipment center for large quantities of high-potency Canadian marijuana and MDMA destined for drug markets throughout the country.
Street gangs dominate retail-level drug distribution throughout the Northwest HIDTA region. In Seattle, African American gangs, such as Rolling 60's and Rolling 90's, Hispanic street gangs including Sureños 13 gang sects, and Asian street gangs such as Young Seattle Boyz, control much of the retail-level drug distribution that takes place in the city. In the Yakima area, Hispanic street gangs, including Baby Gangster Sureños and East Side Sureños, actively distribute retail quantities of most illicit drugs. In Spokane, African American street gangs, such Insane Gangster Crips, Rolling 60's, Elm Street Piru, and Southside Avenue Piru as well as Sureños and Norteños gang sects, engage in retail drug distribution. Various other criminal groups and OMGs also engage in retail-level distribution in the region, but to a lesser extent.
Retail-level distributors use cell phones to facilitate drug distribution in the HIDTA region. Distributors also use pagers to negotiate transactions and prearrange meetings with customers. Traffickers prefer to conduct business conversations on phones with point-to-point capabilities, believing that these communications are difficult for law enforcement to intercept. Distributors also use text messaging to communicate and arrange meetings. They typically use a cell phone for a limited time before switching to a new phone with a new number to further reduce the possibility of having calls monitored.
A large percentage of the property crime and violent crime that occurs within the region is associated with the trafficking and abuse of drugs, particularly methamphetamine. According to data from the NDTS 2007, 41 of the 42 respondents to the survey indicated that methamphetamine was the drug that contributed most to property crime in their jurisdictions and 38 identified methamphetamine as the drug that contributed most to violent crime. Methamphetamine abusers in the region commit property crimes, such as mail theft, forgery, and identity theft, to acquire funds to purchase the drug; methamphetamine distributors also commit such crimes to fund their operations. Methamphetamine abusers have also been implicated in incidents of domestic violence and child neglect. For example, law enforcement officials report that children of methamphetamine abusers often live in unsanitary conditions and are sometimes exposed to the toxic chemicals used in the methamphetamine production, resulting in long-term health problems.
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