To
Contents
To Next Page
To Publications
Page
To Home Page
National Drug Intelligence Center |
|
"One-Pot" Methamphetamine Production Increases in the Michigan HIDTA Region The one-pot method is a variation of the Nazi/Birch method of production; however, in the one-pot method a combination of commonly available chemicals is used to synthesize the anhydrous ammonia essential for methamphetamine production. Individuals using this method are able to produce the drug in approximately 30 minutes at nearly any location by mixing ingredients in a plastic bottle or container. Other methods of methamphetamine production typically require hours to heat ingredients, usually on a stove, resulting in toxic fumes, primarily from the anhydrous ammonia. Producers often use the one-pot method while traveling in vehicles and dispose of waste components along roadsides. Discarded soda bottles may carry residual chemicals that can be toxic, explosive, or flammable. Law enforcement initiatives and increased public awareness campaigns have deterred methamphetamine producers from stealing anhydrous ammonia, a common farm fertilizer used in some methamphetamine production methods. As a result, local methamphetamine producers are increasingly using the one-pot method of methamphetamine production. According to NSS figures, the number of methamphetamine laboratory incidents involving the Nazi/Birch manufacturing method increased significantly from eight incidents in 2000 to 170 incidents in 2008. Additionally, the Michigan State Police report that the one-pot method has become the most commonly used production method in the state, accounting for 39 percent of methamphetamine laboratory incidents in 2007 (the latest year for which data are available). Figure 3. Methamphetamine Production in the Michigan HIDTA Region, by Manufacturing Method, 2000 and 2008 Source: National Seizure System, data run January 5, 2009. |
The Michigan HIDTA region comprises nine counties, including Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne in eastern Michigan, and Allegan, Kalamazoo, Kent, and Van Buren in western Michigan. (See Figure 1.) The population of the HIDTA region is estimated at 5.8 million, with nearly 70 percent residing in the eastern counties of the region. Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo are the primary drug markets in the region; they serve as distribution centers for many smaller drug markets within the HIDTA region as well as markets in neighboring states.
The Michigan HIDTA region is centrally located between major drug markets in Chicago and New York City and is connected by interstate highways and roads to other domestic drug markets as well as to source areas along the Southwest Border and in Canada. Traffickers transport large quantities of cocaine, marijuana and, to a lesser extent, heroin from the Southwest Border. They also transport high-potency marijuana and MDMA from Canada to the area. A shared international border renders Michigan particularly susceptible to drug smuggling from Canada. The Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel connect Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, Canada, providing numerous opportunities for the cross-border shipment of drugs and currency. (See Figure 2.) Additionally, there are more than two million registered watercraft in Michigan and Ontario, some of which are used by traffickers to transport illicit drugs across the extensive maritime border. The Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is also used by couriers transporting drugs into and through the region.
Figure 2. International Border Area Between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario
Detroit and Flint are the largest drug markets in the eastern counties of the HIDTA region. Detroit, in particular, serves as the primary distribution center for illicit drugs transported into and through the HIDTA region from various source locations. Flint is principally supplied with illicit drugs from Detroit, which is located approximately 70 miles south. Some Flint distributors have their own sources outside Michigan that supply them with wholesale quantities of illicit drugs. Cocaine and marijuana available throughout the eastern counties typically are transported from sources in Mexico and states along the Southwest Border, while heroin is transported from New York City, Chicago, southern California, Florida, and sources along the Southwest Border. High-potency marijuana and MDMA are transported into and through the eastern counties from Canada, primarily through Detroit ports of entry (POEs). Cocaine and bulk currency acquired from the sale of these illicit drugs in the United States are transported through Detroit to Canada. Diverted CPDs are commonly available and abused in the HIDTA region.
Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo are the primary drug markets in the western counties of the HIDTA region. They are located midway between Chicago and Detroit, the cities of origin for most of the available illicit drugs in these markets. Cocaine, heroin, and marijuana are readily available in the western counties. Methamphetamine production occurs primarily in the western counties in the HIDTA region, where the number of laboratory incidents more than tripled from 2007 to 2008 after a steady decline since the December 2005 enactment of statewide pseudoephedrine sales restrictions. MDMA and CPDs are available and abused in the area; various independent dealers, often college students, transport these drugs into the region for personal use and limited distribution.
1. Methamphetamine laboratory incidents include seizures of laboratories, dumpsites, and chemicals and equipment.
End of page.
