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National Drug Intelligence Center |
The trafficking and abuse of ice methamphetamine will remain the primary drug threats to the Northwest HIDTA region. Demand for the drug is high, and Mexican DTOs are positioned to meet this demand after resolving precursor chemical supply problems in 2007 and early 2008. Further, high levels of ice methamphetamine abuse along with a declining economic situation in the region will likely contribute to an increase in drug-related crime. Strict legislation placed on retail pseudoephedrine sales will continue to prompt local methamphetamine producers to increase smurfing activities or search for alternative means of obtaining sufficient precursor chemicals.
Mexican DTOs will increase their cultivation of cannabis at outdoor locations in the HIDTA region to meet the high demand for the drug in the HIDTA region and in neighboring areas. Remote and fertile public lands in the region will provide Mexican DTOs with the opportunity to cultivate cannabis. Currently, there are no indications that Mexican DTOs in the HIDTA region are using a cannabis seed that yields faster-growing plants, enabling growers to plant and harvest crops in a shorter 90-day cycle, as opposed to the normal 5- to 6-month cycle. However, this type of cannabis has been discovered in California and Oregon and will likely be used by Mexican DTOs in the Northwest HIDTA region in the near term.
The Northwest HIDTA region will continue to serve as a transshipment area for cocaine smuggled into Canada. Asian DTOs and criminal groups routinely contract with Indo-Canadian transporters to smuggle Canadian marijuana and MDMA into the United States and cocaine into Canada through Washington POEs. Asian traffickers typically purchase cocaine in the United States with profits generated from the sale of Canadian marijuana and MDMA; they sometimes trade these drugs for cocaine.
The availability and abuse of CPDs in the HIDTA region will most likely increase over the next year, driven by the growing popularity of these drugs among teenagers and young adults and the relative ease with which the drugs can be obtained through various means, including Internet pharmacies. Washington has a prescription drug monitoring program (RCW 70.225) to identify and curtail CPD diversion. The Washington State Department of Health is currently developing rules and regulations for data collection. Once the program is operational, the number of incidents of prescription forgery, indiscriminate prescribing, and doctor-shopping will likely decline in the Northwest HIDTA region.
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