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National Drug Intelligence Center |
Figure 11. Pacific OCDETF Region
The threat posed to the Pacific Region by methamphetamine exceeds that of all other illicit drugs. According to the NDTS 2008, 87.3 percent of state and local law enforcement agencies in the Pacific Region characterize methamphetamine as the greatest drug threat in their jurisdictions, compared with 29.4 percent of agencies nationwide (see Table B8 in Appendix B). Moreover, law enforcement officials report that most of the violent and property crime in the region is methamphetamine-related. The threat posed by the transportation, distribution, and abuse of cocaine, heroin, other dangerous drugs (ODDs), MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), and diverted pharmaceutical drugs varies throughout the Pacific Region, but all of these drugs present significantly less of a threat than methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine trafficking and abuse present significant public safety and health concerns in the Pacific Region. Methamphetamine is widely available and frequently abused throughout the region, and it is the drug most often associated with violent and property crime.3 According to the NDTS 2008, 85.4 percent of state and local law enforcement agencies in the region identify methamphetamine as the drug that most contributes to violent crime in their jurisdictions; 85.6 percent identify it as the drug that most contributes to property crime. Moreover, NSS data reveal that 693.56 kilograms of methamphetamine were seized in the Pacific Region in 2007, and 530.31 kilograms were seized from January through October 2008. In both years California accounted for most of the methamphetamine seized in the region. (See Figure B8 in Appendix B for data on methamphetamine laboratory seizures.) Additionally, TEDS data show that the abuse of amphetamines (including methamphetamine) contributed to more treatment admissions (93,497) to publicly funded facilities in the region than any other illicit drug, including marijuana (47,756), in 2006, the latest year for which such data are available (see Table B9 in Appendix B).
Mexican DTOs are the principal producers, transporters, and wholesale distributors of methamphetamine in the Pacific Region. Mexican traffickers typically smuggle methamphetamine to the region from Mexican DTO-controlled laboratories in Mexico through U.S. POEs at Calexico, San Ysidro, and Otay Mesa, California, and at Douglas and Nogales, Arizona. Mexican DTOs are the primary wholesale distributors of methamphetamine in the region, supplying the drug to midlevel and retail traffickers throughout the area for distribution in local drug markets. They also distribute the drug from the Pacific Region to drug markets throughout the United States. In addition, Mexican DTOs operate large-scale methamphetamine laboratories in the northern and Central Valley areas of California, where they produce significant quantities of methamphetamine for regional and national distribution.
Figure 12. Southeast OCDETF Region
The trafficking and abuse of methamphetamine, particularly ice methamphetamine, pose a significant drug threat to the Southeast Region. Nineteen percent of law enforcement agencies in the Southeast Region identify ice methamphetamine as the greatest drug threat in their jurisdictions, and almost 8 percent identify powder methamphetamine as the greatest threat in their areas, according to NDTS 2008 data (see Table B8 in Appendix B). TEDS data indicate that in 2006 (the latest year for which data are available), there were 7,503 amphetamine-related (including methamphetamine-related) admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities in the Southeast Region, excluding Georgia--fewer than the number of admissions for cocaine (26,735), marijuana (22,642), and other opiates (9,115) but greater than the number of heroin-related admissions (1,932) (see Table B9 in Appendix B).
State restrictions enacted on the sale of pseudoephedrine in the region initially contributed to sharp decreases in small-scale methamphetamine production; however, the number of methamphetamine laboratories seized in some areas of the region increased from 2007 through October 2008. The number of reported methamphetamine laboratory seizures in the Southeast Region declined approximately 65 percent from 2004 (2,123) through 2007 (733); however, 2008 seizures reached 720 by the end of October and are on pace to surpass the 2007 total by year's end (see Figure B9 in Appendix B). Alabama and Tennessee accounted for most of the laboratories seized in the region. In fact, Alabama law enforcement officials report that small-scale methamphetamine producers are finding alternative sources for chemical supplies and are increasingly using the "shake and bake" or "one pot" method of producing methamphetamine (see text box in Great Lakes Region section). Law enforcement officers in Talladega County, Alabama, discovered evidence of over 70 one-pot laboratories between October 2007 and May 2008. One-pot-method laboratories have also been seized in urban areas; in May 2008 Louisiana State Police seized a one-pot-method laboratory from a Metairie, Louisiana, residence just outside New Orleans. Local methamphetamine producers are also recruiting smurfs to counter precursor chemical control legislation by purchasing pseudoephedrine in smaller quantities at multiple locations.
Figure 13. Southwest OCDETF Region
Seizure data and law enforcement reporting indicate an overall decline in methamphetamine production in the Southwest Region; however, production in some areas appears to be resurging. Since the enactment of state and federal precursor chemical control regulations in 2004 and the commencement of law enforcement initiatives targeting domestic methamphetamine production, seizures of methamphetamine in the Southwest Region declined approximately 84 percent between 2004 (1,178 kg) and 2007 (182 kg) (see Figure B10 in Appendix B). However, laboratory seizures from January through October 2008 totaled 155 and are on pace to surpass the 2007 total by year's end--the first indication of a stabilization in production levels in the region since 2004. Law enforcement officers in Oklahoma, southern California, and Texas, respectively, seized the largest number of methamphetamine laboratories in the region in 2007 and 2008 (as of the end of October). Despite the overall decrease, methamphetamine is increasingly being produced in some areas, including Albuquerque, Dallas, Tulsa, and Broken Arrow (Oklahoma), usually by operators at small laboratories that are capable of producing only quantities sufficient for personal use or limited local distribution.
Precursor chemical smurfing is emerging as a source of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine for methamphetamine production in the Southwest Region. Recent law enforcement investigations in Arizona, California, and Oklahoma suggest that organized precursor chemical smurfing organizations are supplying large quantities of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine to methamphetamine laboratory operators. These operations are composed of numerous individuals who make multiple purchases of products containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine from pharmacies, drug stores, and retail outlets. These products are then sold to chemical precursor brokers or directly to methamphetamine laboratory operators.
Some local methamphetamine producers take extraordinary measures to conceal their drug production operations. Methamphetamine producers in the Southwest Region use a variety of tactics to avoid detection by law enforcement officers and fellow producers. Some methamphetamine producers no longer share information about their production capabilities--such as laboratory locations and cooking times--with counterparts or customers. Instead, the producers may provide only rudimentary information and notify their customers only when the drug is available to be picked up or delivered. Other producers take more elaborate measures to conceal their operations, such as building underground laboratories. Moreover, some Mexican DTOs compartmentalize methamphetamine production, performing the various steps of methamphetamine production at different locations in an effort to limit the intelligence that law enforcement officers can obtain during laboratory seizures and to reduce the amount of precursor chemicals and equipment confiscated by officials during seizures. Additionally, methamphetamine producers periodically attempt to destroy fingerprints and other evidence by setting fires to laboratory dumpsites before abandoning the sites, and they often bury laboratory waste as soon as it is produced. Consequently, the remediation costs for laboratory sites are extensive. For example, according to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, methamphetamine laboratory cleanup costs in the nine California counties located in the Southwest OCDETF Region reached $313,718 in 2007 and accounted for over one-third of the $845,340 spent for laboratory cleanup in the 58 California counties combined.
3. Most methamphetamine-related violent crime, such as assault and homicide, is perpetrated by members of DTOs, criminal groups, and street gangs in the course of their drug trafficking operations, while most methamphetamine-related property crime, such as burglary, identity theft, and property theft, is committed by methamphetamine abusers seeking funds to purchase the drug.
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