Heroin

Heroin, produced primarily in South America, is an increasing threat to Virginia. Southeast Asian, Southwest Asian, and Mexican black tar and brown powdered heroin also are available. Most new heroin abusers in Virginia are young adults who snort the drug rather than inject it. The number of admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities for heroin abuse ranked third behind cocaine and marijuana from 1995 through 1999. Heroin was a factor in more drug-related deaths in Virginia in 2000 than any other drug. Heroin is readily available in the Central Virginia and Tidewater areas and is an emerging threat to Winchester. The number of heroin-related federal sentences in Virginia fluctuated between FY1996 and FY2000 but was lower than sentences for every other major drug in FY2000. Dominican criminal groups based in New York City and Philadelphia transport wholesale quantities of South American heroin into Virginia and distribute the drug at the wholesale level. African American criminal groups based in Virginia frequently travel to New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., to purchase wholesale quantities of heroin and return to Virginia where they distribute the drug at the wholesale level. Transporters commonly use private and rental vehicles, commercial buses, and passenger rail services to transport heroin from New York City and Philadelphia into Virginia. Local independent African American dealers are the principal retail distributors of heroin in Virginia.

Abuse

The abuse of high purity South American heroin represents a growing threat to Virginia. The number of heroin abusers who snort the drug has increased and the number of heroin abusers who inject the drug, the traditional method, has decreased. New abusers include a younger population averse to using needles. Law enforcement officials in Richmond and Virginia Beach report that the increased purity of heroin at the retail level has contributed to an increased number of heroin-related deaths in the state.

Treatment data indicate that heroin abuse rates in Virginia increased each year from 1995 through 1998, then decreased in 1999. (See Table 1 in Overview section.) According to state substance abuse data, the annual number of treatment admissions for heroin abuse in Virginia increased from 2,737 in 1995 to 5,013 in 1998 and decreased to 4,609 in 1999. The number of treatment admissions for heroin abuse ranked third behind cocaine and marijuana from 1995 through 1999.

Heroin was a factor in more drug-related deaths in Virginia in 2000 than any other drug. Heroin was reported in 110 deaths in 1998, 137 in 1999, and 165 in 2000, according to Virginia ME data. The number of deaths in which heroin was a factor in Richmond increased 33 percent from 33 in 1999 to 44 in 2000. In addition, heroin was mentioned in 23 of the 46 drug-related deaths in the Norfolk area in 1999, according to DAWN ME data.

Rates of heroin abuse vary throughout the state. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Chesapeake, Newport News, Richmond, Virginia Beach, and Henrico and Warren Counties report that heroin is commonly abused in their jurisdictions. Law enforcement officials in Alexandria, Charlottesville, Roanoke, and Fairfax County report that heroin is sometimes abused in their jurisdictions. Law enforcement officials in Emporia and Salem report that heroin is rarely abused in their jurisdictions. The DEA Washington Division reported a significant increase in the demand for heroin and in the level of abuse in Winchester during the first quarter of 2001.

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Availability

Heroin, produced primarily in South America, is readily available in the Central Virginia and Tidewater areas and is an emerging threat to Winchester. Southeast Asian, Southwest Asian, and Mexican black tar and brown powdered heroin also are available. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Newport News, Richmond, and Virginia Beach report that South American heroin is widely available.

The amount of heroin seized in Virginia has fluctuated over the past several years. Federal law enforcement officials seized 3.9 kilograms of heroin in Virginia in FY1998, 2.9 kilograms in FY1999, and 3.2 kilograms in FY2000, according to FDSS data. Law enforcement officials reportedly seized 0.9 kilograms of heroin in Virginia in 1999 and none in 2000 under Operation Pipeline. However, law enforcement officials in the state seized 2.2 kilograms of heroin in 1999 and 8.9 kilograms in 2000 under Operation Jetway.

The number of heroin-related federal sentences in Virginia fluctuated between FY1996 and FY2000 but was lower than every other major drug in FY2000. According to U.S. Sentencing Commission data, the state had 29 heroin-related federal sentences in FY1996, 28 in FY1997, 71 in FY1998, 61 in FY1999, and 64 in FY2000. Additionally, 8.1 percent of all drug-related federal sentences in Virginia were heroin-related in FY2000 compared with 7.7 percent nationally.

Heroin prices in Virginia vary depending on the area. Although heroin is rarely sold in kilogram quantities in the state, responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001 indicate that heroin sold for $90,000 to $120,000 per kilogram in 2001 and ranged from $3,000 to $7,500 per ounce. Retail quantities of heroin sold for $100 to $200 per gram. Wholesale quantities of heroin generally ranged from 77 to 95 percent pure, and retail quantities ranged from 30 to 84 percent in 2001.

Violence

Heroin abusers sometimes commit crimes to support their habits, and heroin distributors frequently commit violent crimes including assaults and murders to protect their turf. In June 2001 a member of the 17th Street Boys gang was convicted on federal charges of heroin trafficking and murder. During the 1990s this gang member distributed drugs and committed violent crimes in South Richmond, including the August 1998 murder of a police informant. In response to the NDIC National Gang Survey 2000, the Norfolk Police Department reported that the Shotgun Gangster Crips, a local gang that distributes heroin, has committed assaults.

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Production

Opium is not cultivated and heroin is not produced in Virginia. Heroin is produced primarily in four source regions: South America, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and Mexico. Most of the heroin available in Virginia is produced in South America.

Transportation

Dominican criminal groups based in New York City and Philadelphia and African American criminal groups based in Virginia are the principal transporters of South American heroin into Virginia. African American criminal groups based in Virginia frequently travel to New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., to purchase wholesale quantities of heroin and return to Virginia. Transporters commonly use private and rental vehicles and commercial buses on I-95 and US 13, as well as passenger rail service to transport heroin from New York City and Philadelphia into Virginia. Eight of the 12 heroin seizures recorded on highways in Virginia from FY1995 to FY1999 occurred on I-95 or US 13, and 6 of the 12 shipments were destined for Virginia, according to Operation Pipeline data. Five of the six shipments that were destined for Virginia originated in New York City, and one originated in Washington, D.C.

Other types of heroin are transported into Virginia but to a far less extent. Mexican and Jamaican criminal groups transport Mexican black tar and brown powdered heroin, while West African criminal groups transport Southwest Asian and Southeast Asian heroin into Virginia. Mexican and Jamaican criminal groups generally transport heroin from southwestern states using private or rental vehicles. West African criminal groups transport heroin into Virginia using couriers on commercial aircraft; a significant portion of that heroin is destined for other states. All of these groups also transport heroin through air parcel delivery services.

Distribution

Dominican criminal groups based in New York City and Philadelphia and African American criminal groups based in Virginia are the principal wholesale distributors of South American heroin. Dominican criminal groups frequently rent an apartment or motel room and distribute wholesale (multiounce) quantities of the drug, often to African American criminal groups. However, federal investigations indicate that some members of Dominican criminal groups have also established full- or part-time residency in Virginia, particularly in Richmond, to distribute wholesale quantities of heroin. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Richmond reported that African American and Dominican criminal groups are the most dominant wholesale distributors of heroin in that area.

Local independent African American dealers are the principal retail distributors of heroin in Virginia, although various criminal groups and other local independent dealers also distribute retail quantities of the drug. In Richmond and Newport News heroin usually is packaged in small baggies stamped with a symbol or logo, while in the Norfolk and Portsmouth areas heroin is distributed in clear gelcaps. Heroin is commonly distributed at open-air markets and public housing projects, particularly in the Central Virginia and Tidewater areas.

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