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National Drug
Intelligence Center New Jersey Drug Threat Assessment May 2001 Overview
New Jersey is the ninth most populous state in the nation with 8.4 million residents in 21 counties. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation and is strategically located as a drug transshipment point and distribution center. The two largest cities in New Jersey, Newark and Jersey City, boast large, ethnically diverse populations--as do many others. New Jersey has busy seaports, two international airports, and borders two key distribution centers--New York City and Philadelphia--all of which enhance its role as drug transshipment point. Drug distributors and users pose a significant threat to public health and safety throughout the state.
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New Jersey has a wide array of transportation Table 1. Port Statistics, New Jersey, 1991-1999
The four largest cities in New Jersey--Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, and Paterson--are located in the five counties of the state that are part of the New York and New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) and are within 15 miles of New York City. The number of drug stash houses and operation sites is on the rise in these areas as law enforcement initiatives push distributors out of New York. In 1999, the New York and New Jersey HIDTA conducted more drug investigations in New Jersey than in New York. Despite law enforcement arrests of key members of several criminal groups in New Jersey, traffickers continue to smuggle in large amounts of drugs, which they distribute locally and nationwide. Numerous drug trafficking organizations (DTOs), criminal groups, and gangs transport and distribute drugs to and through New Jersey. Colombian DTOs are the dominant cocaine and South American heroin suppliers for New Jersey-based criminal groups. Colombian DTOs and Dominican criminal groups control most of the wholesale distribution of cocaine and South American heroin in New Jersey, depending on the area. African American criminal groups, particularly in southern New Jersey, and Dominican criminal groups throughout the state are the dominant retail distributors. Caribbean, Cuban, Jamaican, Mexican, Russian, Nigerian, Pakistani, Puerto Rican, and other Hispanic criminal elements, among others, also transport both drugs to the state. New Jersey, particularly Newark and Camden, serves as a transportation hub for bulk quantities of cocaine and heroin smuggled to the state; however, additional quantities destined for New Jersey are transshipped through New York City and Philadelphia. Mexican, Jamaican, and Caucasian criminal groups dominate marijuana distribution, some of which is transported in tractor-trailers from the Southwest Border to New Jersey. Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs), traditional organized crime groups such as Italian Organized Crime (IOC) and teenagers and young adults at raves dominate methamphetamine distribution in New Jersey. New Jersey is a transshipment point for some methamphetamine destined for Pennsylvania and states as far away as Texas. Mexican and Filipino criminal groups also transport and distribute methamphetamine in the state, but to a lesser extent. Israeli and Russian criminal groups transport other dangerous drugs (ODDs), particularly MDMA, (3,4-methlyenedioxymethamphetamine) to New Jersey where OMGs, teenagers, and young adults then control most of distribution in the state. Several street gangs are involved in drug distribution and violent crime throughout the state. Survey responses to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Street Gang Survey Report 2000 illustrate that most of the 19 reported street gangs in New Jersey distribute drugs and commit violent crimes, including assaults, drive-by shootings, and homicides. The Bloods, Latin Kings, and Ņetas street gangs and Five Percenters, a cultural group, are the most prominent (have the most chapters). (See text box.) All distribute cocaine, heroin, and marijuana from Jersey City and Irvington, New Jersey. The Latin Kings and Ņetas street gangs and Five Percenters cultural group also distribute in Camden, while the Bloods distribute in Eatontown.
Street gangs distributing powdered cocaine and crack, particularly at open-air drug markets, pose the greatest threat to the health and safety of New Jersey's citizens; however, heroin is a significant threat as well. Heroin and crack users account for a high number of treatment admissions in New Jersey. Crack cocaine users are often violent, while heroin users risk exposure to HIV as injectors "shoot up" and share needles, resulting in increased risks to public health and safety. The number of injecting drug users infected with HIV in New Jersey increased 4 percent, from 7,115 in 1998 to 7,410 in 1999. Ninety percent of the state's 21 task forces report that open-air drug markets are prevalent. Hunterdon and Sussex, two very rural counties, are the exceptions. Law enforcement officials dedicate fewer resources to investigate the distribution and use of marijuana, methamphetamine, and ODDs in part because of the large number of heroin and cocaine abusers in New Jersey. Although marijuana is the most prevalent drug, users do not typically engage in violent crime. Methamphetamine is reportedly available in 18 counties, but is typically distributed in the central and southern counties in the state. While law enforcement officers started to seize methamphetamine and methamphetamine laboratories in New Jersey in 1997, the methamphetamine threat is not as great as it is in the west and midwest. ODDs, which include designer drugs and diverted pharmaceuticals, are available mostly at raves and college parties, where users are typically friendly and peaceful. The New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (NJDCJ) reports that drug-related crime is increasing at an alarming rate throughout the state. NJDCJ estimates that 70 percent of violent crime results directly from drug activity. Drug-related arrests in New Jersey fluctuated between 1995 and 1998. State law enforcement agencies reported a 4 percent increase in drug-related arrests from 1995 to 1996. During the same period, the number of murders, aggravated assaults, and robberies decreased. The number of drug-related arrests in New Jersey decreased 2 percent, from 65,317 in 1997 to 64,011 in 1998. Young adults under the age of 21 committed 40 percent of all drug abuse violations in the state in 1998.
The number of federal drug offenders sentenced in New Jersey is consistent with the national average; however, the percentage of heroin- and cocaine-related sentences is much higher in New Jersey than nationwide. Drug offenses composed over 35 percent of all federal sentencing cases in the state in 1999, compared with the national sentencing average of 41 percent. Over 77 percent of all drug sentences in the state were cocaine- or heroin-related, a 20 percent higher ratio than the national average. More significantly, heroin sentences represent 38 percent of all federal sentencing cases, compared with 8 percent nationally. New Jersey, particularly Newark, has a high but stable number of emergency department (ED) mentions and treatment admissions. There were 844 ED mentions per 100,000 in Newark in 1998, the third highest of the 21 metropolitan areas studied (behind Baltimore and Philadelphia), according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). According to Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), New Jersey ranked at least third in the United States for annual drug treatment admissions and admissions per 100,000 from 1992 through 1997. In 1997, New Jersey had 23,922 treatment admissions for heroin abuse, second only to New York with 28,922 admissions. Over 7,300 treatment admissions were for cocaine abuse, 5,340 for marijuana, 511 for other opiates, 507 for other drugs, and 140 for methamphetamine. According to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Drug and Alcohol Abuse report, the state has more than 60,000 drug treatment admissions annually. Of all treatment admissions, 42 percent reported heroin as the primary drug abused, 13 percent reported cocaine, and 9 percent reported marijuana. Money laundering adversely affects New Jersey's economy as large amounts of cash are transported out of the state. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), El Dorado Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigated a Mexican banking scandal with serious, far-reaching financial implications that forced the state government to consider financial reforms to help offset this threat. Colombian and Dominican DTOs constitute the greatest money laundering threat in New Jersey despite a law established in 1999 that toughens penalties for some methods of money laundering. The law does not cover the state's numerous check cashing outlets and wire transfer franchises and drug money launderers continue to use these methods. Colombian and Dominican DTOs ship bulk quantities of U.S. currency to their countries inside hidden compartments in automobiles transported on maritime vessels. Another popular method used to smuggle currency out of the United States involves couriers who take flights from New Jersey to Colombia via Venezuela. According to USCS, couriers usually travel in groups of about six, and smuggle about $90,000 total, wrapped in carbon paper to thwart X-ray detection at airports. Colombian money launderers meet the couriers once in the country and usually pay the couriers between 2 and 5 percent of the total. Law enforcement reports indicate that money laundering organizations purchase electronics and/or clothing in bulk and ship them directly to Colombia, where they are sold at discounted prices. The money laundering problem is exacerbated by the casino industry in Atlantic City. Corrupt casino employees facilitate money laundering activities. In June 1998, federal and state law enforcement officers in New Jersey posing as drug distributors arrested four casino employees working at three casinos and charged them with laundering $400,000. Drug money launderers also use Atlantic City casinos to convert cash into casino chips or tokens and draw checks on casino bank accounts. The importance of casinos in money laundering is difficult to quantify at present. A money laundering commission was established to more closely monitor these issues.
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