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National Drug Intelligence
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Traffickers transport illicit drugs into, throughout, and from the NY/NJ HIDTA region using various modes of transportation. Traffickers primarily transport illicit drugs along the six major interstate highways9 and 10 secondary interstates10 that service the region (see Figure 2). Some drug traffickers use indirect routes, such as state routes and back roads, to transport drugs to and through the HIDTA region, largely in an attempt to avoid law enforcement apprehension. Interstate 95, a key overland route along the east coast, connects the NY/NJ HIDTA region to areas in which over a quarter of the U.S. population resides. Additionally, 10 major airports and 10 major seaports are located along the east coast and are easily accessible from I-95. Three international airports--JFK, Newark Liberty, and LaGuardia--are extensively used by traffickers to smuggle illicit drugs into the region, particularly SA heroin. Traffickers also use the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Albany International Airport to transport drugs into Upstate New York drug markets. The Port of New York/New Jersey is the largest container port complex on the east coast. In 2007 the port handled more than $166 billion worth of international cargo--more than ever before--from over 150 countries. Law enforcement reporting reveals that traffickers periodically smuggle illicit drugs into the region by maritime conveyances destined for the port. Four major land ports of entry (POEs) are located on the U.S.-Canada border, each accessible through Erie County.11 Traffickers routinely take advantage of overland POEs to smuggle drugs into the region from Canada. Additionally, Amtrak passenger rail service, commuter rail services, the largest subway system in the world, and an extensive network of buses and taxis provide traffickers with numerous transportation options to and within the area.
Figure 2. New York/New Jersey HIDTA region transportation infrastructure.
Colombian, Dominican, and Mexican DTOs are the primary transporters of illicit drugs in the region. For instance, 11 members of a Colombian DTO operating between New York City and Colombia were arrested in early 2007 for transporting heroin from Colombia to the United States, primarily through Panama and Guatemala. The organization concealed the heroin in trailer hitches, automotive drive shafts, and the beads of beaded beach bags. They also shaped and colored the heroin to look like dried kidney beans and sealed them in cellophane wrappers. Colombian, Dominican, and Mexican DTOs sometimes contract with each other to transport drugs overland from the Southwest Border; they also contract with Caribbean transportation groups to smuggle drugs on maritime conveyances from South America to Florida then onward to the HIDTA region by private and commercial vehicles and commercial aircraft. Colombian and Dominican DTOs also transport drugs by using couriers on commercial aircraft flying directly to the region's major airports or secreting the drugs among containerized cargo shipped into the Port of New York/New Jersey. Mexican DTOs transport drugs primarily overland from the Southwest Border, or they obtain drug supplies from other Mexican DTOs based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Shipments of cocaine and heroin transported to the NY/NJ HIDTA region are either stored by traffickers in suburban residences outside New York City, or are further transported to distributors in Upstate New York. Colombian and Dominican DTOs use drugs stored in stash locations outside New York City to supply the city's midlevel and retail-level dealers; they typically retrieve small amounts of drugs that they can distribute quickly, thereby minimizing the risk of having large quantities of drugs seized by law enforcement. Some New York City-based traffickers also supply drugs directly to distributors in upstate markets, delivering the drugs directly to regular customers in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse; however, couriers, usually female, and some upstate dealers travel to New York City to obtain drug supplies. Additionally, some upstate distributors bypass New York City suppliers entirely by arranging for the transportation of cocaine and heroin to their areas directly from Atlanta; Chicago, Illinois; and various cities in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Law enforcement reporting indicates that some cocaine traffickers in Rochester have developed such extensive drug markets that they are bypassing their usual sources of supply in New York City and dealing directly with Mexican traffickers in southwestern states.
Canada-based DTOs, primarily Vietnamese, regularly transport substantial quantities of high-potency hydroponic marijuana from Canada to northern New York, according to law enforcement reporting. These DTOs often hire East Indian, Pakistani, or Yemeni tractor-trailer drivers to transport multithousand-pound quantities of marijuana, often secreted among legitimate goods, across major POEs, such as the Peace Bridge.12 Additionally, some East Indian drivers are beginning to purchase marijuana directly from DTOs instead of contracting to transport the drugs on their behalf. The drivers then distribute the drugs to dealers in New York, retaining the sale proceeds themselves. Canada-based traffickers, primarily Asian DTOs, smuggle marijuana by boat and private vehicle and MDMA by private vehicle from Canada through the St. Regis Mohawk (Akwesasne) Reservation. These DTOs hire residents of the reservation to transport the drugs to distributors in Upstate New York locations, mainly Albany and Syracuse. The upstate distributors then supply the drug to traffickers from New York City, predominantly Dominican distributors, for distribution there.
Some traffickers smuggle drugs to the NY/NJ HIDTA region through the Port of New York/New Jersey aboard maritime vessels. Dominican DTOs smuggle cocaine from South America and the Caribbean and Jamaican DTOs transport marijuana from Jamaica aboard marine conveyances. Additionally, Afghani and Pakistani DTOs smuggle limited quantities of SWA heroin into the NY/NJ HIDTA region in maritime cargo.
Traffickers also use package delivery services and the U.S. mail to ship illicit drugs into the region. Cocaine is occasionally shipped by traffickers to the NY/NJ HIDTA region in 1- to 5-kilogram quantities from Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic. These traffickers prefer to use package delivery services because the shipments can be monitored on the Internet--if a shipment is delayed, the traffickers will often abandon it or refuse delivery, fearing law enforcement detection and intervention.
9.
Interstates
78, 80, 81, 87, 90, and 95.
10.
Interstates 190, 278, 280, 287, 295, 390,
495, 684, 878, and 895.
11.
These
ports of entry (POEs) are the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and the Peace
Bridge (private vehicles and commercial truck traffic), the Whirlpool Bridge,
and the Rainbow Bridge (private vehicles only).
12.
The Peace Bridge spans the Niagara
River and connects Buffalo, New York, with Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada.
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