National Drug Intelligence Center   Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2008   June 2008

Drug Threat Overview

Methamphetamine, particularly ice, poses the most significant drug threat in the Northern California HIDTA region. Sixty-six of the 70 state and local law enforcement agencies in the region that responded to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 2007 identified methamphetamine as the greatest drug threat in their jurisdictions. These respondents also indicated that the majority of incidents involving violent crime and property crime perpetrated in their jurisdictions involved methamphetamine trafficking and abuse. (See Table 2 in Drug-Related Crime section.) Most of the ice methamphetamine available in the area is produced by Mexican DTOs in Mexico and, to a lesser extent, in central and southern California. While methamphetamine is the principal drug threat in most areas of the region, according to NDTS data, many law enforcement officials report that the availability of methamphetamine in their areas decreased during 2007, particularly at the midlevel and retail level. Officials attribute decreased methamphetamine availability to decreased production in Mexico in 2007 occasioned by restrictions on precursor chemical importation recently implemented by the government of Mexico as well as several seizures of large-scale production laboratories and shipments of pseudoephedrine destined for Mexico. Decreased methamphetamine availability may also be related to a decline in local production over the past several years, largely as a result of federal and state precursor control legislation, effective law enforcement initiatives, and public awareness campaigns. According to law enforcement officials, decreased availability of ice methamphetamine in the region has resulted in lower purity, particularly at the midlevel and retail level; distributors have reportedly cut the drug to stretch supplies. Wholesale methamphetamine prices have risen in the HIDTA region as well. For example, in San Francisco the price of methamphetamine rose from $8,000 to $12,000 per pound in 2006 to $10,000 to $20,000 per pound in 2007.

Cannabis cultivation and marijuana production operations are extensive and are increasing in magnitude throughout the HIDTA region, making northern California one of the most significant cannabis cultivation areas in the nation. According to law enforcement officials, this situation has resulted from high levels of abuse, increased availability of high-potency marijuana, and exploitation of California Proposition 215² by illegal cannabis cultivators and drug traffickers. Additionally, many federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and task forces report an increase in the number of illegal outdoor and indoor cannabis grow sites in their jurisdictions as well as an increase in violent confrontations between law enforcement officers and cultivators who aggressively protect their grow sites--particularly during the September and October harvest season.

Powder and crack cocaine are widely available and frequently abused in the region. Many law enforcement officials and treatment providers report an increase in powder cocaine abuse in the region. They attribute the increase, in part, to some methamphetamine abusers, primarily middle- and upper-income Caucasian adults and high school students, switching to powder cocaine as their drug of choice because of media campaigns warning of the dangers associated with methamphetamine abuse, declining methamphetamine availability, declining methamphetamine purity levels, and a belief among some abusers that cocaine is safer to use because it is "organic." During the first 6 months of 2007, law enforcement officials noted a decrease in powder cocaine availability, a drop in purity levels, and an increase in prices resulting from a rise in the cocaine user population and successful law enforcement efforts, such as Operation Imperial Emperor.³ However, cocaine availability rebounded in the last 6 months of 2007. Moreover, law enforcement officials in most large urban areas within the HIDTA region report very high levels of crack cocaine abuse; crack cocaine generally is the most abused illicit drug in urban areas of the region.

Heroin also causes significant concern to law enforcement officials in the Northern California HIDTA region. Mexican black tar heroin is the most readily available and abused form of the drug. However, HIDTA officials reported an increase in Mexican brown powder heroin seizures during 2007. Mexican DTOs transport wholesale quantities of black tar heroin and, to a lesser extent, brown powder heroin from Michoacán through the Southwest region for distribution within the HIDTA region.

The abuse of other dangerous drugs (ODDs), particularly MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), and diverted pharmaceuticals occurs to varying degrees throughout the Northern California HIDTA region. MDMA is distributed primarily in nightclubs by Asian criminal groups and street gangs. For example, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) San Francisco Division arrested two Asian males and seized approximately 5,000 MDMA tablets and 70 vials of ketamine⁴ in June 2007. HIDTA law enforcement officers and treatment providers have noted that some Asian traffickers are selling a combination of MDMA and methamphetamine known as "Juiced E" or "E Plus." The traffickers are marketing the drug primarily to teenagers and young adults. Many individuals who have been admitted to treatment facilities in the region for abuse of this combination have stated that they did not know that the pills they were taking contained methamphetamine. Pharmaceutical abuse across all age groups is occurring at high levels in the region. Benzodiazepines, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and synthetic opiates are the most frequently abused pharmaceutical drugs.

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Drug Trafficking Organizations

Mexican DTOs based in the Northern California HIDTA region are the principal illicit drug transporters, wholesale distributors, and producers in the area. Mexican DTOs typically smuggle cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine destined for the Northern California HIDTA region from Mexico through U.S. ports of entry (POEs) in Calexico, San Ysidro, and Otay Mesa, California. They also exploit well-established transportation routes for distribution from the area to drug markets throughout the United States. Moreover, Mexican DTOs operating in the Northern California HIDTA region control local cultivation of large quantities of cannabis and also control methamphetamine and marijuana production operations in the Central Valley of California. Mexican DTOs in the region are based largely on familial ties and typically consist of members who reside in California, Mexico, or various cities throughout the United States.

Asian DTOs and criminal groups are the principal suppliers of Canadian high-potency marijuana and MDMA. They are also expanding their indoor cannabis cultivation operations in the Northern California HIDTA region. The drug trafficking threat they pose to the area is increasing but is not as extensive as that posed by Mexican DTOs. Asian DTOs primarily transport high-potency marijuana, commonly known as BC Bud, and MDMA (including MDMA combined with methamphetamine) from Canada for distribution in the Northern California HIDTA region. They are also the primary MDMA distributors in many areas throughout the region. Asian drug traffickers are increasingly cultivating cannabis at indoor grow sites that are typically located at residences in new communities within the HIDTA region. Such residences are often procured through fraudulent mortgage financing. Asian DTOs typically restrict involvement in their drug trafficking operations to individuals of similar race/ethnicity and familial affiliation. Many Asian DTOs and criminal groups distribute illicit drugs at the midlevel and retail level in the area; Vietnamese groups are predominant.

Hispanic, African American, and Asian street gangs; Hispanic and African American prison gangs; and outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) are of particular concern to law enforcement officials in the Northern California HIDTA region. These gangs are extremely violent in establishing or maintaining control of their drug trafficking activities. Hispanic street gangs, primarily affiliates of the Sureños and Norteños gangs, are involved in midlevel and retail-level distribution of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. According to law enforcement officials throughout the North Bay Area, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Sureños gang members relocating to their jurisdictions in an attempt to overtake traditionally held Norteños territories. African American street gang members, primarily affiliates of Bloods and Crips, distribute crack cocaine and marijuana at the retail level in the HIDTA region. Asian street gangs such as Wah Ching and Asian Boyz are involved primarily in retail-level MDMA and marijuana distribution. Prison gangs such as Border Brothers and Kumi Nation are involved in the midlevel and retail-level distribution of methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and marijuana. Members of OMGs, most notably Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC), are active in the midlevel and retail-level distribution of powder cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Members of the various street and prison gangs in the region typically compete with each other over drug distribution. However, law enforcement officials report that some second- and third-generation African American and Hispanic gang members, motivated primarily by profit, are now working together to supply and distribute ice methamphetamine, heroin, and crack cocaine.

End Notes

2. California Proposition 215 allows patients and primary caregivers to possess marijuana or cultivate cannabis for medical treatment that is recommended by a physician, exempting them from state criminal laws that otherwise prohibit possession or cultivation of cannabis. Legal protections are also provided to physicians who recommend the use of marijuana for medical treatment. Under this proposition, no prescription is needed to obtain the drug for medicinal use. A doctor makes a recommendation either in writing or verbally. The allowable quantity of processed marijuana and cannabis plants per patient is 8 ounces and 6 mature or 12 immature plants. Additionally, State Bill 420 allows local communities to set higher thresholds.
3. Operation Imperial Emperor was a multijurisdictional investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It targeted an international Mexican drug trafficking and money laundering organization that had ties to the San Francisco Bay area, in addition to other areas of California, and to Arizona, Illinois, and New York. This organization maintained distribution cells in northern California that transported drugs from Mexico across the U.S.-Mexico border to San Francisco for further distribution in the city and to cities throughout the United States.
4. Ketamine is a tranquilizer most commonly used on animals. The liquid form is odorless and colorless and can be injected, consumed in drinks, or added to smokable materials. Ketamine is also known as "Special K," "Super K," "jet," and "super acid," among other names. Ketamine use can cause delirium, amnesia, depression, and long-term memory and cognitive difficulties. As a result of its dissociative effects, it is sometimes used as a date-rape drug.

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