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Distribution

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. These traffickers often use front businesses, restaurants, trucking companies, and auto repair services as wholesale distribution points. For example, in Operation Pink Tiger, a recent Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, law enforcement authorities identified a restaurant in Burien, Washington, that was used by Mexican traffickers to distribute kilogram quantities of cocaine and heroin sold in the HIDTA region.

Mexican DTOs often employ advanced communication technology and techniques to coordinate their illicit drug trafficking activities in the Northwest HIDTA region. Law enforcement reporting indicates that several Mexican DTOs use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite technology (broadband satellite instant messaging), encrypted messaging, cell phone technology, two-way radios, scanner devices, and text messaging to communicate with DTO members. In some cases they use high-frequency radios with encryption and rolling codes to communicate during operations.

Asian traffickers, primarily Vietnamese DTOs and criminal groups, are the primary wholesale distributors of 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 Canadian marijuana and MDMA destined for drug markets throughout the country. Moreover, Asian DTOs are expanding their working relationships with other DTOs, criminal groups, and gangs in order to increase their wholesale- and retail-level distribution of high-potency marijuana and MDMA. Some Asian DTOs also trade marijuana and MDMA for cocaine supplied by Mexican DTOs and smuggle the drug into Canada. Law enforcement reporting indicates that some Asian DTOs use countersurveillance measures against law enforcement officers who work in the same areas as the DTOs.

Street gangs dominate retail-level drug distribution throughout the Northwest HIDTA region. African American gangs in Seattle such as Rolling 60's and Rolling 90's, Hispanic street gangs such as Sureņos 13 gang sets,11 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 Sureņos and East Side Sureņos, actively distribute retail quantities of most illicit drugs. In Spokane, African American street gangs such as Insane Gangster Crips, Rolling 60's, Elm Street Piru, and Southside Avenue Piru, as well as Sureņos and Norteņos gang sets, engage in retail drug distribution. 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.

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Drug-Related Crime

A large percentage of the property 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 2009, 33 of 46 state and local law enforcement respondents report that methamphetamine is the drug that most contributes to violent crime in their areas, and 42 respondents report the same for property crime. Methamphetamine abusers in the region commit property crimes, such as mail theft, forgery, and identity theft, to acquire funds to purchase the drug, a situation that may worsen as the overall economic situation in the HIDTA region continues to decline. Methamphetamine distributors also commit such crimes to fund their operations. They are often armed and use weapons to collect drug debts. 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 methamphetamine production, resulting in long-term health problems.


Footnote

11. Sureņos gang sets active in the Seattle area include Barrio Loco Humilde, Brown Pride Locos, Brown Pride Mexicans, Brown Pride Sureņos, Callejones Escondidos, El Monte Flores, Florencia 13, Gangster Sureņos Cliqua, Insime Sureņos Lokotes, La Posada Sureņos, Little Valley Lokotes, Mara Salvatrucha, Pasadena Locos Salvatrucha, South Los, and South Park Locos.


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