Strategic Drug Threat Developments

• Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) are transporting a larger percentage of the cocaine and heroin available in the NY/NJ HIDTA region and are taking a more significant role in distributing drugs in the area. Colombian DTOs have lessened their direct involvement in transportation and distribution duties, creating this opportunity for Mexican DTOs to increase their market share. Over the past 12 to 16 months, Mexican DTOs' growing role has led to an influx of higher-purity crystal methamphetamine,¹ a larger volume of drugs transported overland (mostly from the Southwest Border area), and a significant decline in drugs transported to the HIDTA region from Florida.
    
• Canada-based DTOs have increased the size of the hydroponic marijuana loads that they ship into the HIDTA region through western New York ports of entry (POEs). Previously, the loads weighed several hundred pounds and were commonly transported in private vehicles; now, most weigh multithousand pounds and are transported in commercial vehicles. This may indicate that DTOs in eastern Canada are expanding to more markets in the United States.
    
• Syracuse and Albany, New York, have become major transshipment points for Canadian hydroponic marijuana smuggled through the St. Regis Mohawk (Akwesasne) Reservation. Dominican traffickers drive from New York City to meet with Native American smugglers from the reservation to purchase marijuana at these locations.
    
• Street gang involvement in retail-level distribution of cocaine and heroin is rising, particularly in the Upstate² New York HIDTA counties. This activity has led to increased violence in the region over the past several years.
    
• The purity of South American (SA) heroin, the predominant type available in the HIDTA region, has decreased slightly. Newark, which previously led the nation in SA heroin purity, now ranks behind Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City. SA heroin purity has been decreasing in the HIDTA since 2003; however, this is the first time Newark did not lead the nation in SA heroin purity.
    
• Despite reported decreases in SA heroin purity, heroin poses an increasing threat to the HIDTA region. Abuse, particularly among young people, is increasing. Additionally, abuse is spreading from lower-income neighborhoods to middle- and upper-income neighborhoods. The reason for this increase in heroin abuse is largely unknown by law enforcement and public health officials at this time; however, some believe it may be linked to the fact that heroin is now commonly snorted, and the stigma of injecting the drug is less frequently associated with its abuse.

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HIDTA Overview

The NY/NJ HIDTA region encompasses 17 counties located throughout New York and in northeastern New Jersey. The New York portion consists of the five boroughs of New York City (Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island), the outer two counties of Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk), Westchester County (just north of New York City), and four counties in Upstate New York that were recently added to the HIDTA region (Albany, Erie, Monroe, and Onondaga³). The New Jersey portion consists of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic, and Union Counties. Approximately 21 million individuals--more than 7 percent of all U.S. residents--reside in the HIDTA region.

The HIDTA region includes the most ethnically diverse urban area in the nation, allowing foreign-born criminals to easily blend in and operate throughout the area.⁴ Individuals from over 100 countries reside in the New York metropolitan area, and almost 2 million of the approximately 8 million New York City residents are foreign-born. Significant numbers of people from drug source and transit countries reside in various parts of the HIDTA region. For example, the Jackson Heights section of Queens contains the largest Colombian community outside Colombia, and the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan is home to a large concentration of Dominican-born residents.

End Notes

1. Law enforcement and treatment authorities in the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region use the term "crystal methamphetamine" to refer both to powder methamphetamine that has been recrystallized and high-purity ice methamphetamine. Recrystallized powder is the form most commonly found in the HIDTA.
2. For the purposes of this report, "Upstate New York" refers to the area of New York State outside the area of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County. Areas referred to as being located in western New York (Buffalo, etc.) are included in Upstate New York.
3. The NY/NJ HIDTA recently expanded to include Albany, Erie, Monroe, and Onondaga Counties in Upstate New York. These counties have been added to the HIDTA region because of their emerging role as key distribution centers for illicit drugs originating in New York City and because of the increasing presence of New York City-based drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in the counties.
4. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the New York metropolitan area is 45 percent Caucasian, 27 percent African American, 27 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Asian and Pacific Islander, and less than 1 percent Native American, Eskimo, or Aleut.

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