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Drug Trafficking Organizations

Mexican DTOs distribute most wholesale quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin in the region. They obtain these drugs from the Southwest Border area and sources of supply in several areas in Mexico. Mexican DTOs are well organized, extensively networked, and deeply entrenched in many communities throughout the region, which they use as a base of operations for regional- and national-level drug trafficking and money laundering activities. The presence of Mexican DTOs in the HIDTA region is reflected in recent law enforcement investigations that have identified several significant DTOs operating in the region that are associated with major Mexican cartels, particularly La Familia Michoacána and the Sinaloa Cartel. Mexican DTOs maintain alliances with various criminal groups, prison gangs, street gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) to capitalize on the organizational networks that these groups have established in the region. They use these groups to transport, store, package, and distribute illicit drugs and assist in money laundering activities.

Asian DTOs and criminal groups are the primary wholesale distributors of Canadian high-potency marijuana and MDMA in the HIDTA region. These traffickers also operate local indoor cannabis cultivation sites and supply high-potency marijuana and MDMA to other Asian traffickers in Colorado Springs, Denver, and Salt Lake City.

Local and nationally affiliated street gangs as well as prison gangs and OMGs distribute significant quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other illicit drugs at the retail level in the region. These gangs are supplied primarily by Mexican traffickers. Street gangs, prison gangs, and OMGs engage in a variety of other criminal activities, including burglary, robbery, theft, assault, and homicide. These gangs often use violence to establish or maintain control of their drug trafficking operations.

The number of DTOs that were targeted, disrupted, or dismantled through Rocky Mountain HIDTA initiatives is considerable. In 2009, HIDTA initiatives targeted 36 international DTOs (10 of which were disrupted or dismantled), 123 multistate DTOs (56 of which were disrupted or dismantled), and 107 local DTOs (41 of which were disrupted or dismantled). (See Table A2 in Appendix A.) Moreover, 20 Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) and 20 Regional Priority Organization Target (RPOT) investigations were conducted in the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region in 2009. (See Table A3 in Appendix A.)


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