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NDIC seal linked to Home page. National Drug Intelligence Center
Virginia Drug Threat Assessment Update
June 2003

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine poses a low but increasing threat to Virginia. According to TEDS data, there were 184 amphetamine-related admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities in Virginia in 2002, an increase from 119 in 2001. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Virginia reported that 5 of the 1,137 drug deaths in the state in 2002 involved methamphetamine. There were no deaths related to methamphetamine in 2001.

Methamphetamine increasingly is available in Virginia. Twenty-one of the 47 law enforcement respondents to the NDTS 2002 in Virginia reported that the availability of methamphetamine was medium or high in their jurisdictions--19 respondents indicated that the availability of methamphetamine was increasing. According to FDSS data, federal law enforcement officials in Virginia seized 18.6 kilograms of methamphetamine in 2002. The Virginia State Police made 193 amphetamine- or methamphetamine-related arrests in 2001. USSC data indicate that the percentage of drug-related federal sentences that were methamphetamine-related in Virginia (5%) was significantly lower than the percentage nationwide (14%). There were more methamphetamine-related federal sentences in the U.S. Attorney Western District (31) than in the Eastern District (8).

Wholesale and midlevel methamphetamine prices vary throughout Virginia and depend upon various factors including quantity sold and location of sale. The DEA Washington Division reported that methamphetamine sold for $10,000 to $17,000 per pound and $800 to $1,600 per ounce in Virginia during the fourth quarter of FY2002. Prices generally were lowest per pound in the Richmond area and highest per pound in the Roanoke area. Retail prices for methamphetamine were comparable across the state, generally averaging $100 per gram.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials occasionally seize methamphetamine laboratories in Virginia. There were five methamphetamine laboratories seized in the state in 2001 and four in 2002 according to the DEA El Paso Intelligence Center. Most of these laboratories were capable of producing only 2 to 3 ounces of methamphetamine per production cycle.

Mexican criminal groups based primarily in the Shenandoah Valley region are the primary transporters of methamphetamine into Virginia; they also serve as the primary wholesale-level distributors. These groups usually transport methamphetamine from southwestern states and North Carolina into Virginia using package delivery services, private vehicles, and couriers aboard commercial aircraft. Outlaw motorcycle gangs such as Pagan's and Warlocks transport smaller quantities of methamphetamine from California into the state via private vehicles. Low-income, blue-collar, Caucasian independent dealers who also abuse methamphetamine are the primary retail-level distributors of the drug in the state. These individuals usually sell methamphetamine at college campuses, raves, and nightclubs.

 


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