National
Drug Intelligence Center California Border Alliance Group Drug Market Analysis June 2007 Drug Threat OverviewIce methamphetamine3 is the most significant drug threat to the CBAG region. It is the most abused illicit drug in the area, other than marijuana. Methamphetamine also is associated with a considerable number of drug-related crimes in the CBAG region, including assaults, robberies, and incidents of domestic violence. Mexican DTOs have relocated many of their methamphetamine production facilities to Mexico as a result of law enforcement pressure and regulatory restrictions on the acquisition of precursor chemicals; thus, nearly all the methamphetamine available in the CBAG region is ice that is smuggled from Mexico. Mexican commercial-grade marijuana is readily available throughout the region. However, the availability of high-potency marijuana, produced at an increasing number of indoor grow sites in the region as well as at domestic locations outside the region, is rising. Additionally, the availability of high-potency marijuana from Canada (BC Bud) is increasing in the area. The availability of cocaine and Mexican black tar heroin also is increasing throughout the region. South American heroin is regularly seized by law enforcement officers in the area; however, the drug quite likely is being seized in transit, destined for traffickers in other drug markets, primarily on the East Coast. Pharmaceutical drugs obtained from Mexican pharmacies along the California-Mexico border are a significant source of diverted pharmaceuticals distributed and abused throughout the region. Other dangerous drugs (ODDs), such as MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), ketamine, and GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate), are available in the CBAG region, but they pose lesser threats than other drugs of abuse. End Note3. For the purposes of this report, ice methamphetamine refers to methamphetamine that has been crystallized from powder methamphetamine. |
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