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Mexican DTOs operating in the PC HIDTA will most likely increase their drug transportation activities in the coming year. These DTOs have expanded and strengthened their networks throughout the region, particularly those with Colombian and Dominican DTOs, which rely heavily upon them to carry out transportation and distribution tasks. Mexican DTOs are well-positioned to increase their influence over drug distribution in the HIDTA region because they have established highly efficient and reliable nationwide networks through which they can readily obtain illicit drugs for distribution in the region.
Mexican DTOs and African American gangs in the PC HIDTA will strengthen their connections to drug sources in Atlanta. As such, Atlanta's role in cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine trafficking within the region will further solidify.
Asian DTOs will be of growing concern to law enforcement in the PC HIDTA in the coming year. Canada-based Asian DTOs are increasingly producing high-potency marijuana at indoor sites in the region, and they are becoming principal suppliers of MDMA and ice methamphetamine in the HIDTA.
Violence associated with drug distribution in the PC HIDTA region will most likely intensify over the next year. As Bloods street gang members attempt to increase their dominance throughout the region, territorial disputes may result in increased violence. Moreover, Asian street gangs will become more entrenched in Philadelphia, and they may engage in violent criminal activity to protect their high-potency marijuana and ice methamphetamine distribution operations from intrusion by other trafficking groups.
Disruptions to traditional cocaine supply routes from Mexico may induce some drug traffickers to use alternative routes, specifically through the Caribbean, in order to deliver cocaine to local distributors. Moreover, local Dominican, Jamaican, and Puerto Rican drug traffickers are the predominant cocaine suppliers in the PC HIDTA and may look toward "home" for cocaine rather than relying on established Mexican sources. Current Caribbean suppliers also may take advantage of disruptions to conventional cocaine supply routes by attempting to increase their market shares in the region.
The availability of imported or locally produced high-potency marijuana will rise to meet increasing demand for the drug in the PC HIDTA region. Competition among local distributors to meet this demand will spur an increase in year-round production of high-potency marijuana in the region.
Diverted pharmaceutical availability and abuse in the PC HIDTA region will most likely increase over the next year, driven by the growing popularity of these drugs among young adults and adolescents.
Technologies including online and mobile payment systems will provide drug traffickers with additional means to launder illicit proceeds. Online payment systems, including digital currencies, offer anonymity, versatility, and convenience and will continue to gain in popularity with drug money launderers because such systems have a global reach and reduce issues linked to fluctuating exchange rates.
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