National Drug Intelligence Center   Oregon High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2009   April 2009

Drug Threat Overview

Widespread trafficking and abuse of methamphetamine are the greatest threats to the Oregon HIDTA region, straining local law enforcement, public health, and social services resources, particularly in rural areas. Although local methamphetamine production has declined significantly in most areas of the region, an abundant supply of Mexican ice methamphetamine throughout the HIDTA region has fueled rising methamphetamine abuse since the second quarter of 2008. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 2009, 24 of the 26 state and local law enforcement agency respondents in the Oregon HIDTA region identify methamphetamine as the drug that poses the greatest threat to their jurisdictions.3 Additionally, 24 respondents report that methamphetamine is the drug that most contributes to violent crime in their areas, and 25 respondents report the same for property crime.

Mexican DTOs are the primary producers, transporters, and wholesale distributors of ice methamphetamine acquired from laboratories in Mexico and, to a lesser extent, the Central Valley of California. They have generally supplied sufficient quantities of the drug to meet demand, even in the face of decreased local methamphetamine production. Local production decreased after legislation was passed in August 2005 requiring a prescription to purchase medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine--the precursor chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine.4 As local methamphetamine production declined, Mexican DTOs expanded local networks to distribute ice methamphetamine produced in Mexico. However, in 2007 and early 2008, the availability and purity of Mexican methamphetamine temporarily decreased in some areas of the HIDTA region, particularly at the midlevel and retail level. Law enforcement officials believe that these decreases were due to restrictions enacted by the Mexican Government on the importation and legitimate distribution of precursor chemicals. These restrictions temporarily curtailed methamphetamine production in Mexico, leading to decreased availability of the drug in the HIDTA region throughout 2007 and early 2008. By the second quarter of 2008, law enforcement officials reported that methamphetamine availability in the Oregon HIDTA region had returned to previously high levels.

Officials attribute the rebound in availability to increased ice methamphetamine production in Mexico and, to a lesser degree, increased production in the Central Valley of California. Mexican DTOs are circumventing precursor chemical sales and import restrictions and are smuggling precursor chemicals into Mexico to produce ice methamphetamine. Moreover, pseudoephedrine smurfing5 activity in the Central Valley has led to increased methamphetamine production in California; some of this methamphetamine is transported to the Oregon HIDTA region.

Marijuana is the most widely available and frequently abused drug in the HIDTA region; 25 of the 26 state and local law enforcement agency respondents to the NDTS 2009 report that the drug is highly available in their jurisdictions. Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are the primary distributors of commercial-grade Mexican marijuana. In addition, Mexican DTOs and criminal groups operate most of the large outdoor cannabis grow operations in the HIDTA region; these operations are typically located in counties that have extensive remote locations, such as public lands and rural areas. Furthermore, Asian criminal groups have increased their indoor cannabis grow operations in the HIDTA region, particularly since 2004. Caucasian independent growers and criminal groups also cultivate cannabis at indoor locations, sometimes using the Oregon Medical Marijuana Plan (OMMP) as a pretext for conducting illegal grow operations.

Cocaine is readily available in the HIDTA counties, and in some areas availability is increasing. According to law enforcement agencies in the Willamette Valley and Portland areas, the availability of powder cocaine is increasing. In Portland, the Regional Organized Crime Narcotics (ROCN) Task Force attributes the higher level of cocaine availability to Mexican DTOs that meet the increased demand by supplying more cocaine to the region. According to the NDTS 2009, 19 of the 26 state and local law enforcement agency respondents in the region report that powder cocaine availability is moderate to high in their jurisdictions; 7 respondents report the same for crack cocaine availability. Crack cocaine is available, distributed, and abused primarily in urban areas of the HIDTA region, such as Portland.

Heroin trafficking and abuse pose significant drug threats in urban areas such as Portland and Salem; however, according to the NDTS 2009, none of the law enforcement agency respondents in the HIDTA region identify heroin as their greatest drug threat. According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Addictions and Mental Health Division (AMH), the total number of treatment admissions for heroin abuse in the three counties that compose Portland exceeds the number of admissions for abuse of any other drug.6 (See Table 7.) Multnomah County, which encompasses most of the Portland metropolitan area, recorded the highest number of heroin-related deaths in the state (71) in 2008. (See Table 8.) Heroin abuse is the third leading cause of treatment admissions in Marion County, where Salem is located. Heroin is transported into these cities in shipments ranging from less than a kilogram to multiple kilograms; such shipments are typically transported in private vehicles.

Source: Oregon Department of Human Services, Addictions and Mental Health Division.
*Most treatment admissions for amphetamine/methamphetamine were for methamphetamine, and most treatment admissions for marijuana/hashish were for marijuana.

Source: Oregon State Medical Examiner.

The abuse of other dangerous drugs (ODDs) is a growing concern to law enforcement in the HIDTA region. MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate), LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), and ketamine are generally abused by teenagers and young adults in the HIDTA region. These drugs are abused primarily at social venues such as at raves, bars, nightclubs, and private parties in urban areas and on college campuses. According to the Oregon HIDTA, the abuse of MDMA is spreading throughout the region. Most of the MDMA available in the region is smuggled from Canada. According to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Canada-based DTOs are increasingly producing adulterated MDMA tablets, and in some cases, these tablets do not contain any MDMA. Instead, they are a combination of substances, some of which can be fatal to the abuser. For example, the Portland Metropolitan Forensic Laboratory received numerous tablets believed to be MDMA in 2008, but through testing, the tablets were determined to be mixtures of BZP (N-benzylpiperazine)7 and TFMPP (1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine), two of the most common substances substituted for MDMA. According to the CBSA, Canada-based DTOs are increasingly producing adulterated MDMA tablets. Another drug, Foxy methoxy, is sometimes available and sold with MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin (hallucinogenic mushrooms);8 Foxy is sometimes abused with other drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, or methamphetamine.

The abuse of diverted CPDs is occurring at relatively high levels in the Oregon HIDTA region. In fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Oregon ranks fourth among all states in the rate of abuse for controlled prescription pain relievers by teenagers. This high level of CPD abuse among youth is also prevalent in HIDTA counties. The leading illicit methods used to obtain CPDs in the HIDTA region are doctor-shopping, theft, and purchases from Internet pharmacies.

To Top      To Contents

Drug Trafficking Organizations

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are the dominant illicit drug producers, transporters, and wholesale distributors in the HIDTA region. Their influence in the area is unrivaled and presents law enforcement with numerous challenges. Members of Mexican DTOs and criminal groups, which tend to be insular and family-based, easily blend with the region's sizable Hispanic population. Mexican traffickers in the HIDTA region generally obtain illicit drugs from Mexican DTOs operating in Mexico, California, and southwestern states; they supply these drugs to distributors throughout the region. Additionally, law enforcement officials report that some members of Mexican DTOs and criminal groups in the region also exploit Native American reservations to establish cannabis cultivation sites and drug distribution networks.

Since 2004, the presence of Asian DTOs in the HIDTA region has increased. They have expanded their criminal activities to include large indoor cannabis grow operations conducted primarily by Vietnamese criminal groups. This expanded local indoor cannabis cultivation enables Asian DTOs to reduce the amount of Canadian high-potency marijuana that they smuggle into the HIDTA region, thus avoiding law enforcement interdiction at the U.S.-Canada border and reducing transportation costs. Asian DTOs are also the primary wholesale distributors of MDMA produced in Canada and smuggled to the HIDTA counties.

Hispanic and African American street gangs are active in most urban areas of the Oregon HIDTA region. For example, the Portland Metro Gang Task Force reports that an estimated 80 to 100 gang sets with a total membership of over 3,000 operate in the city. (See Figure 3.) Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs), such as Gypsy Joker, are also active in the region. Street gangs typically are involved in midlevel and retail-level drug distribution. (See Table 1.)

Figure 3. Number of Gang Members in Oregon, by County, 2008

d-link

Source: National Drug Threat Survey 2008; interviews with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Footnotes

3. National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) data for 2009 cited in this report are as of February 12, 2009. NDTS data cited are raw, unweighted responses from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies solicited through either the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) or the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. Data cited may include responses from agencies that are part of the NDTS 2009 national sample and/or agencies that are part of HIDTA solicitation lists.
4. Oregon is the only state that requires a prescription to purchase ephedrine or pseudoephedrine products.
5. Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine smurfing is a method used by some methamphetamine traffickers to acquire large quantities of precursor chemicals. Methamphetamine producers purchase the chemicals in quantities at or below legal thresholds from multiple retail locations. Methamphetamine producers often enlist the assistance of several friends or associates in smurfing operations to increase the speed of the operation and the quantity of chemicals acquired.
6. Portland was incorporated in 1851 and is the county seat of Multnomah County. The city extends slightly into Washington County to the west and Clackamas County to the south.
7. BZP is a common name for the synthetic stimulant N-benzylpiperazine. BZP tablets, especially those that also contain the hallucinogen TFMPP (1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine), are often sold as MDMA or promoted as an alternative to MDMA.
8. Foxy and Foxy methoxy are common names for a synthetic drug with the chemical name 5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT). It is typically available as a powder, capsule, or tablet. Abused for the hallucinogenic effects it produces, foxy belongs to a class of chemical compounds known as tryptamines. (Other hallucinogenic tryptamines include psilocybin and psilocyn.)

End of page.