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National Drug Intelligence Center |
The Beaumont/Port Arthur area is located approximately 80 miles east of Houston in Jefferson County and is a transit area for drugs, primarily cocaine and marijuana, transported to markets in southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi along I-10, as well as illicit proceeds transported west to Houston and the Southwest Border. Significant drug and currency seizures are made by law enforcement authorities along the portion of I-10 that passes through the area.
The amount of drugs seized by law enforcement authorities in Jefferson County decreased in 2008. According to NSS data, the amount of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine seized in the county decreased from 2006 through 2008. The amount of cocaine seized decreased 73 percent from 2006 (115 kg) to 2008 (31 kg); the significant decrease in cocaine seizures began in 2007 (38 kg) and corresponds with the reduced flow of cocaine into the United States and the cocaine shortages in many U.S. markets first reported in 2007. The amount of marijuana seized decreased 68 percent from 2006 (218 kg) to 2008 (69 kg) after a spike in 2007 seizures (591 kg). It is likely that this decrease can be attributed to the same factors that caused the decrease in marijuana seizures in Houston. No methamphetamine seizures were reported in Jefferson County in 2008, and no heroin seizures were reported in the past 3 years. (See Table 3 in Distribution section.)
The number of drug-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities declined in all drug categories from 2006 through 2008. According to Texas DSHS data, drug-related treatment admissions decreased in all drug categories, with amphetamine-related treatment admissions (including methamphetamine-related treatment admissions) showing the greatest decrease (54 percent). (See Table 6 in Abuse section.)
Corpus Christi, located in Nueces County, is a key transshipment area for illicit drugs in the Houston HIDTA region. Although not comparable in scale to Houston in terms of illicit drug activities, Corpus Christi mirrors many of the smuggling activities that occur in the city. Corpus Christi is a transshipment area for illicit drugs, particularly cocaine and marijuana, which are smuggled from Mexico by Mexican DTOs overland in private and commercial vehicles or by maritime methods through the PINS. The city is the first metropolitan area north of the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in the Rio Grande Valley, making it an ideal location for DTOs to stash drugs prior to distribution. Stash houses are numerous in and around Corpus Christi and are most often used by traffickers to store cocaine and marijuana prior to transshipment to major markets in the central and eastern United States.
Indoor cannabis cultivation in the Corpus Christi area is uncommon but may be increasing. For example, law enforcement officials discovered an indoor grow site in Portland (just north of Corpus Christi) in October 2008 and seized 128 cannabis plants. The grow, in which hydroponic methods were used, was contained in a three-bedroom house; one bedroom was used for seedlings, another for more mature plants, and another for equipment storage. An elaborate duct system for air and odor removal had been installed through the roof to ventilate the house. The grow operator told authorities that the site yielded six harvests a year and produced a $15,000 to $20,000 profit per room per harvest. The operator had purchased the cannabis seeds from Canada. Local cultivators may begin to increase their indoor grow activities to take advantage of their ability to generate four to six harvests per year and control the growing conditions to produce high-potency marijuana, which commands higher prices in most drug markets.
Drug seizure amounts in Nueces County decreased significantly in 2008. According to NSS data, overall drug seizures in the county decreased 75 percent compared with those in 2006, with cocaine and marijuana accounting for the majority of the seizures. (See Table 3 in Distribution section.) Specifically, cocaine seizures decreased 38 percent and marijuana seizures decreased 76 percent from 2006 to 2008; seizures for both drugs spiked in 2007. These decreases can more than likely be attributed to the same factors that caused seizures to decrease in Harris County. Methamphetamine seizures increased slightly from 2006 (no reported seizures) to 2008 (3 kg) after a significant increase in 2007 (43 kg). The decrease in methamphetamine seizures from 2007 to 2008 most likely was caused by an increase in methamphetamine seizures in South Texas counties that border Mexico during the same time period. (See Table 5 in Distribution section.) No heroin was seized in 2006 or 2008, and only 3 kilograms were seized in 2007.
Prison gangs operating in Corpus Christi, including Texas Syndicate and Mexican Mafia, have established direct connections to Mexican DTOs along the U.S.-Mexico border, giving them easy access to wholesale quantities of drugs. Texas Syndicate has the most advanced drug trafficking network in the Corpus Christi area. Members of this gang have local access to many types of drugs; they also smuggle illicit drugs directly from Mexico into the area. Mexican Mafia is involved in drug and alien smuggling. Members reportedly pick up drugs and aliens in the Rio Grande Valley and smuggle them to the area.
The southern portion of the Houston HIDTA region, south of Corpus Christi, is the main entry point for drugs smuggled into the area; most enter through the Brownsville, Hidalgo, and Progreso POEs. (See Figure 5 in Transportation section.) This sparsely populated area is close to the U.S.-Mexico border and comprises mainly ranch properties. Drug shipments from Mexico generally transit the area; distribution in the area is limited because of the sparse population. U.S. Highway 77, which extends from the Brownsville POE, and US 281, which extends from the Progreso and Hidalgo POEs, serve as major corridors for drugs smuggled north from South Texas. The successful movement of drug shipments through these POEs and, later, through the two Border Patrol checkpoints--one in Kingsville/Sarita in Kenedy County on US 77 and one in Falfurrias in Brooks County on US 281--is a critical phase of drug transportation from the U.S.-Mexico border. The two HIDTA counties in which these checkpoints are located (Brooks and Kenedy) accounted for 77 percent of total drug seizures in the HIDTA region in 2008, with cocaine and marijuana accounting for most of the seizures. (See Table 3 in Distribution section.) However, the amount of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine seized in Brooks and Kenedy Counties decreased from 2006 to 2007, most likely because of increased seizures of drugs in transit to the United States and increased seizures by law enforcement authorities in counties along the border in South Texas. (See Table 5 in Distribution section.) Drug shipments increase significantly in value after successfully passing through the POEs and again after passing through these checkpoints. For example, 1 pound of marijuana purchased in Mexico for $40 to $50 typically increases in value to $200 per pound when smuggled across the border and further increases to $250 to $400 per pound north of the checkpoints. Additionally, large quantities of bulk cash are smuggled south through this portion of the HIDTA region. For example, in January 2008, officers from the Kingsville Police Department seized over $1 million from a vehicle being driven south on US 77.
Mexican DTOs use the PINS as an entry point to smuggle drugs and illegal aliens. The PINS is located on an undeveloped natural barrier island that extends south from Corpus Christi to the Mansfield Channel, a waterway that divides the PINS from South Padre Island. (See Figure 7.) The PINS and South Padre Island consist of 95 miles of mostly uninhabited and undeveloped beaches that offer traffickers an attractive venue for maritime smuggling. Mexican DTOs often use the area for smuggling operations to avoid enhanced overland border protection at the checkpoints in Kingsville/Sarita and Falfurrias. Seashore visitors have reported witnessing illicit deliveries from shark boats to land vehicles; such smuggling operations pose a danger to visitors if they are perceived as a threat by traffickers.
Figure 7. Padre Island National Seashore
Note: Populations are by Census 2000 data
DTOs use shark boats,10 or lanchas, to smuggle cocaine, marijuana, and illegal aliens to the PINS. Shark boats typically depart from Playa Baghdad and El Mezquial, Mexico, approximately 20 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border on Mexico's east coast. It is common for 10 to 20 shark boats loaded with drugs or illegal aliens to leave Playa Baghdad Beach and flood an area along the PINS. DTOs also hire fishermen in Mexico to use their boats to smuggle contraband into the PINS; some Mexican fishermen may be particularly susceptible to recruitment by traffickers because the Mexican fishing industry has collapsed as a result of overfishing and loss of fishing grounds. Traffickers engage in most smuggling activity through the PINS at night to avoid detection. Once a shipment of drugs or illegal aliens reaches the PINS, traffickers on the shore generally retrieve the contraband from the traffickers manning the boat. Traffickers use Park Route 22, the only accessible land route to the PINS, to transport illicit drug shipments and illegal aliens from the island. Drugs are then transported to Corpus Christi, where they are stored in stash houses for later distribution. Illegal aliens are transported to Corpus Christi prior to moving to other locations in the United States.
Marijuana and, to a lesser extent, cocaine are the drugs most often smuggled through the PINS. Drug smuggling through the PINS decreased in 2008 compared with the previous 5-year period, when marijuana shipments in excess of 1,000 pounds were common. For example, in September 2007, over 1,200 pounds of marijuana were discovered among the sand dunes by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on routine air patrol. In addition, cocaine shipments were often found washed ashore during this period. Decreased drug smuggling activity through the PINS in 2008 can be partially attributed to the large amount of debris (including furniture, appliances, and parts of houses) that washed ashore along the PINS as a result of Hurricane Ike in September 2008, making travel through the park by foot and motor vehicle hazardous. The hurricane also coincided with cannabis harvest season in Mexico and quite likely had an even larger impact on marijuana smuggling during that period. Decreased cocaine smuggling through the PINS was most likely caused by the same factors that resulted in decreased cocaine seizures in other areas of the HIDTA region.
9.
Information regarding drug-related activities in
outlying markets is often not as readily available as information about metropolitan
areas. This section addresses particular markets and includes information gleaned
from available law enforcement reporting and interviews.
10.
Shark boats, also known as lanchas, are
low-riding vessels that can endure voyages of up to 19 hours while carrying more
than 1,000 pounds of illegal drugs or 10 to 20 illegal aliens.
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