National Drug Intelligence Center   North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2008   June 2008

Drug Threat Overview

Mexican methamphetamine and cocaine pose the most significant drug threats to the North Texas HIDTA region. Of the 179 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies that responded to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 2008 on behalf of the North Texas HIDTA, 79 identified methamphetamine as the greatest drug threat to their jurisdictions; 42 identified powder methamphetamine; 21 identified crack cocaine; and 5 identified powder cocaine. Most respondents also indicated that each of these drugs was readily available in their jurisdictions. Ice methamphetamine has replaced locally produced powder methamphetamine, the result of the enactment of state³ and local precursor chemical control legislation that has dramatically decreased methamphetamine production in the North Texas HIDTA region. Cocaine, both in powder and crack form, continues to be available in the area. Crack cocaine conversion, distribution, and abuse are most problematic in the low-income urban areas of Dallas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa. Marijuana, usually commercial-grade Mexican marijuana, poses a serious drug threat to the HIDTA region because it is readily available, frequently abused, and a significant "cash crop" for Mexican DTOs. Heroin, primarily Mexican black tar, is available in the area. White heroin⁴ is also available. The abuse of diverted pharmaceutical drugs--notably hydrocodone, oxycodone (specifically OxyContin), and methadone products--presents a threat to the HIDTA region, particularly among teenagers and young adults. The distribution and abuse of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) and PCP (phencyclidine) pose varying but much lesser threats than methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin in the North Texas HIDTA region.

Marijuana seizure totals declined almost 48 percent overall in 2007 when compared with seizure totals in 2006; however, law enforcement officers assigned to North Texas HIDTA task force initiatives seized more marijuana than any other illicit drug in 2007. Despite the overall decline in marijuana seizure totals in 2007, hydroponic marijuana seizure totals increased significantly during this period. (See text box.) Powder cocaine seizure totals were slightly higher in 2007 than in 2006, while the total amount of crack cocaine seized declined significantly during this period. HIDTA task force officers report that drug seizure totals for heroin and MDMA more than doubled from 2006 to 2007, yet remained lower than 2005 totals. (See Table 1.)

Table 1. Drug Seizures, North Texas HIDTA Initiatives, in Kilograms, 2005-2007

Source: North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Performance Management Process Database.
Note: Some subtotals within the drug types may not add up to the totals of drug types seized because of rounding.
NR - No seizures reported.
* The North Texas HIDTA did not include OxyContin as a category in its Performance Management Process (PMP) in 2007.
** The North Texas HIDTA did not include prescription drugs as a category in its PMP in 2005 and 2006.

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Powder methamphetamine production levels in the North Texas HIDTA region have declined significantly since 2005. National Seizure System (NSS) data indicate that the number of methamphetamine laboratories seized in North Texas HIDTA counties in 2007 was lower than the number seized in either 2006 or 2005. (See Table 2.) Most of the methamphetamine laboratories seized during each of those years were in Oklahoma, notably Sequoyah and Tulsa Counties; however, Dallas and Tarrant Counties in the Texas portion of the North Texas HIDTA region also figured prominently in 2005 and 2006, and Tarrant was the principal Texas county for methamphetamine laboratory seizures within the HIDTA region in 2007. Almost all of the laboratories seized were small-scale laboratories, capable of producing 1 pound or less per production cycle. Operators of these laboratories usually produce small quantities of methamphetamine for personal use and limited distribution. Law enforcement officers in Sequoyah County seized the only major laboratory--capable of producing 2 to 9 pounds of methamphetamine per production cycle--in 2007. Traffickers in the North Texas HIDTA region typically purchase large quantities of ice methamphetamine from Mexican traffickers because it is often cheaper, higher quality, and easier to obtain than locally produced powder methamphetamine.

Table 2. Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures in North Texas HIDTA Counties, 2005-2007*

Source: National Seizure System, as of May 13, 2008.
* Data are for laboratory seizures only (chemical/equipment and dumpsite seizure incidents are excluded). HIDTA counties not listed had no reported laboratory seizures from 2005 through 2007.
** Methamphetamine laboratory seizures as reported by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Mexican traffickers supply wholesale quantities of illicit drugs--primarily cocaine, marijuana, ice methamphetamine, and heroin--to the North Texas HIDTA region either through sources in Texas, California, and Arizona or directly from Mexico. Once the traffickers transport the drugs to the HIDTA region, they repackage and transship some of them--particularly cocaine and marijuana--to major markets throughout the United States, including Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Durham, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Shreveport, Louisiana; St. Louis, Missouri; and Toledo, Ohio. Mexican traffickers usually transport wholesale quantities of ice methamphetamine from the HIDTA region to drug markets located most often in the southeastern United States. They also transport heroin to markets outside the HIDTA region for distribution, particularly to cities in the northeastern United States.

Law enforcement officials supporting North Texas HIDTA initiatives arrested members of 73 DTOs in 2007, the same number reported in 2006 and up slightly from 70 in 2005. According to North Texas HIDTA Performance Management Process (PMP) data, most of the DTOs in 2007 included criminals of Hispanic ethnicity who ran international (31), multistate (20), or local (22) drug trafficking operations. Fifty-six of the DTOs were polydrug traffickers who distributed more than one type of drug.

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Drug Trafficking Organizations

Mexican DTOs dominate drug trafficking throughout the North Texas HIDTA region. These criminal organizations have sophisticated command-and-control centers in Mexico and exert nearly total control over drug trafficking operations throughout the Southwest. Several major DTOs are active in the North Texas HIDTA region; however, the Gulf Cartel Trio is the primary organizational threat to the region.

The Gulf Cartel, whose leadership includes Jorge Eduardo Castilla-Sánchez, Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas-Guillén, and Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano, currently poses the greatest threat within the North Texas HIDTA region.⁵ This cartel maintains control of the lucrative smuggling routes through Nuevo Laredo/Laredo, Reynosa/McAllen, and Matamoros/Brownsville. From these border cities the Gulf Cartel has easy access to the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano, the Senior Security Chief for the Gulf Cartel, is in charge of the Zeta enforcement organization. The Zetas are the internal security arm of the Gulf Cartel, one of the most powerful drug smuggling organizations in Mexico. The original Zetas were members of the Grupo Aeromovil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE), a Mexican special forces group trained to locate and apprehend drug traffickers. In recent years the Zetas have been incorporated into the Gulf Cartel to the extent that the name Zeta and Gulf Cartel are synonymous. Almost all Gulf Cartel members are called "Zetas" within the drug trafficking community, regardless of their status within the organization.

Investigative intelligence indicates that Lazcano's top lieutenant, Miguel Angel Treviño-Morales, controls several transportation and distribution cells located in the North Texas HIDTA region. Several members of Treviño's immediate and extended family have resided in the region for many years. As a result, he has intimate knowledge of and trusted associates in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Recent reporting from Mexico suggests that the Gulf Cartel and certain members of Los Zetas have broken ranks. It is believed that Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano and Miguel Treviño-Morales may be in the process of forming a new cartel. Given the prominence of Treviño's influence within the North Texas HIDTA region, the formation of a new cartel could signal a further rise in prominence of Dallas/Fort Worth as a major drug trafficking center.

Mexican drug traffickers are the dominant group trafficking illicit drugs in the North Texas HIDTA region; however, gangs and criminal groups also are involved at varying levels in drug trafficking activities in the region. (See text box; see Table 3.) Hispanic street gangs, prison gangs, and OMGs that are active in trafficking drugs in the Dallas area include gangs such as Latin Kings, Tango Blast,⁶ Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos, and East Side Homeboys. Investigative intelligence indicates that these gangs have formed relationships with Mexican DTOs in order to obtain drugs for local distribution. Intelligence also indicates that Asian criminal groups, primarily Vietnamese, control most of the trafficking and distribution of hydroponic or high-potency marijuana and MDMA in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Chinese and Korean--and, to a lesser extent, Laotian and Cambodian--criminal groups and gangs are also active in drug trafficking but not to the level of the Vietnamese criminal groups. Asian criminal groups obtain most hydroponic and high-potency marijuana available in the area from established Chinese sources of supply in British Columbia, Canada. However, they also obtain some hydroponic and high-potency marijuana from suppliers in Washington State, namely Seattle, and cultivate cannabis locally for additional quantities of the high-potency drug. Asian gangs are the primary retail-level distributors of hydroponic and high-potency marijuana in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. These Asian criminal groups and gangs also distribute MDMA in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. However, since the availability of MDMA in the area exceeds local demand, Asian criminal groups frequently transship the drug to secondary distribution locations, including Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Fort Smith and Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Shreveport, Monroe, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Kansas City, Missouri.

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Table 3. Drug Trafficking Groups That Distribute Illicit Drugs in the North Texas HIDTA, by Drug

Source: National Drug Intelligence Center, National Drug Threat Assessment 2008.

Drug traffickers operating in the North Texas HIDTA region typically communicate using two-way radios, satellite phones, and direct-connect devices as well as cellular, boost cellular⁷, mobile, and push-to-talk telephones. They generally replace their cell phones with new ones every 30 to 45 days for security purposes and because the phones are low-cost and easy to acquire. Most traffickers have multiple phones, and many use boost or other prepaid cellular phones because no identification is required when obtaining them. Drug traffickers also arrange drug transactions on their cell phones through text messages. Some drug traffickers and street gang members also exploit the Internet for drug-related communications, often using "MySpace" and "Face Page" Internet sites to set up drug transactions and find drug distributors.

End Notes

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