National Drug Intelligence Center   New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2009   April 2009

Production

Most of the illicit drugs distributed in the NE HIDTA region are produced at locations outside the region; however, some drug production does occur throughout New England. A portion of the SA heroin available in the region is processed at heroin mills that operate in key regional distribution centers--Lowell/Lawrence and Hartford/Springfield.2 For instance, members of a heroin distribution organization based in Hartford were sentenced in July 2008 for operating at least two heroin mills that processed and packaged multikilogram quantities of the drug into bundles for redistribution.3 Approximately 50,000 bags4 of heroin can be produced from 1 kilogram of heroin. Law enforcement officials have also encountered "finger presses" at heroin mills in New England; prepackaged fingers5 and partial fingers6 of heroin are frequently encountered in some NE HIDTA area drug markets, particularly in northern New England, where heroin previously was sold in bag quantities. Powder cocaine is commonly converted to crack throughout the HIDTA region by African American and Jamaican distributors, who purchase powder cocaine from Dominican traffickers. According to the NDTS 2009 data, 78 of the 104 state and local law enforcement agency respondents in the NE HIDTA region report that powder cocaine is converted to crack cocaine in their areas.

Traffickers produce marijuana from cannabis that is cultivated at indoor and outdoor grow sites in the NE HIDTA region. Data from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) reveal that the number of cannabis plants eradicated from outdoor grow sites in the region increased between 2005 and 2007 but declined significantly in 2008, while the number of plants eradicated from indoor grow sites spiked in 2006, declined significantly in 2007, and remained low in 2008. (See Table 2.) Law enforcement officials attribute the decrease in the number of indoor cannabis plants eradicated between 2006 and 2008 to a reduction in Asian-operated indoor hydroponic grow sites seized in the region. Law enforcement officials seized two sizable Asian-operated indoor hydroponic grow sites in New England during 2008, including 240 cannabis plants in Bolton, Connecticut, in July and 113 cannabis plants in Hull, Massachusetts, in October. The only notable Asian-operated indoor grow site discovered in 2007 was seized by law enforcement officials in July; it consisted of 534 cannabis plants and was operated by a Vietnamese DTO in New Britain, Connecticut.

Table 2. Cannabis Plants Eradicated in Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation Sites in the New England HIDTA Region, 2005-2008

Source: Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program.

MDMA and powder methamphetamine production in the NE HIDTA region occurs intermittently and usually involves small laboratories where abusers and independent dealers produce limited quantities of the drugs for personal use or distribution to close friends and associates. Law enforcement officers seized five methamphetamine laboratories in New England in 2008--four in Maine and one in New Hampshire. Seven methamphetamine laboratories were seized in New England during 2007, according to law enforcement officials--three in Massachusetts, two in Vermont, one in Maine, and another in New Hampshire. Law enforcement officials also seized seven laboratories in New England that produced other types of ODDs during 2007, including one that produced MDMA in Vermont, two that produced steroids in New Hampshire, one each that produced PCP and LSD and one that was used to extract the hallucinogen d-lysergic acid amide (LSA) from morning glory seeds in Connecticut, and one that produced methaqualone in Massachusetts. Law enforcement reporting reveals that laboratory operators acquired the precursor chemicals and equipment used at the seized laboratories from local stores and over the Internet. Moreover, limited quantities of psilocybin mushrooms are produced in the NE HIDTA region, typically by college students. According to law enforcement officials, most psilocybin mushroom cultivators in New England acquire cultivation materials over the Internet.

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Transportation

Colombian and Dominican DTOs generally transport SA heroin and cocaine to the NE HIDTA region from New York, using private and public transportation and the U.S. mail. Some Dominican groups also transport heroin and cocaine directly to the region from other parts of the United States, including Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Dominican DTOs also receive shipments of SA heroin directly from foreign suppliers located in Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. When traffickers smuggle heroin directly to New England, they typically retain a portion for distribution in the region and repackage the remainder for transport to New York City. Heroin traffickers who receive shipments directly from foreign sources usually do so in an attempt to increase their profit margin, to avoid law enforcement interdiction on roadways and at airports, or to avoid intermittent price increases by New York City-based suppliers. Some may also obtain drug supplies directly from family members who live in source or transit countries. U.S. postal inspectors seized a total of 49 parcels containing cocaine that were mailed to recipients in the New England region from 2007 through 2008; inspectors also seized a total of nearly $300,000 in cash from two parcels that also contained cocaine. The cocaine shipments were mailed to New England by distributors located in domestic and foreign locations; however, most of the seized parcels of cocaine were sent to the NE HIDTA region from Puerto Rico.

Figure 2. New England HIDTA Region Transportation Infrastructure

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Mexican DTOs transport cocaine, marijuana, SA heroin, and limited quantities of ice methamphetamine to the NE HIDTA region from southwestern states, typically concealed in various types of private vehicles and tractor-trailers. Some Mexican DTOs travel to Atlanta for cocaine, marijuana, and SA heroin supplies. Mexican traffickers also transport or mail small quantities of ice methamphetamine and black tar heroin to the NE HIDTA region.

Asian, Caucasian, and Native American criminal groups, OMGs, and independent dealers, most of which are based in Canada, smuggle high-potency Canadian marijuana; synthetic drug tablets/capsules that contain various substances such as MDMA, methamphetamine, or MDA; and CPDs from Canada into and through the NE HIDTA region. A number of these traffickers also transport heroin and precursor chemicals into the United States through the region. Some MDMA that is distributed in the NE HIDTA region is transported into the United States from Canada aboard commercial aircraft.

CPD abusers in the NE HIDTA region frequently obtain drugs such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and Dilaudid (hydromorphone) illegally over the Internet from distributors who are based in and outside the United States. Abusers commonly order CPDs through online forums and message boards on web sites that host encrypted e-mail services. They then electronically wire payment to distributors, who ship the drugs through package delivery services and the U.S. mail. U.S. postal inspectors seized a total of 31 parcels containing oxycodone that had been mailed to recipients in New England from 2007 through 2008. Parcels containing oxycodone were mailed to New England by sources of supply in domestic and foreign locations; most of the seized parcels were sent from Florida to the NE HIDTA region. Some parcels destined for New England that originated in Florida and California contained counterfeit OxyContin. Moreover, some couriers transport CPDs to New England aboard commercial aircraft.

New York-based Colombian and Dominican DTOs are the predominant wholesale polydrug distributors of SA heroin and cocaine to the region; Dominican DTOs also distribute wholesale quantities of marijuana. They supply the drugs to Dominican DTOs and criminal groups that distribute midlevel and retail-level quantities of the drugs from the Lowell/Lawrence and Hartford/Springfield distribution hubs to various other local criminal groups and street gangs that serve as retail-level distributors in communities throughout the region. However, some local Dominican DTOs and African American, Caucasian, and Mexican criminal groups prefer to travel to the New York City metropolitan area to purchase lower-priced heroin and cocaine directly from Colombian and Dominican wholesale suppliers and then return to New England to sell the drugs to their retail customers.

African American and Hispanic street gangs from the New York City metropolitan area and the local area distribute crack cocaine in urban communities throughout the region. Street gang members from New York and the local area use private vehicles or public transportation to transport crack cocaine to urban areas in the region, where they typically set up distribution operations in hotel rooms or the private residences of local female accomplices and distribute the drug to established customers. Local street gang members typically distribute crack at their established neighborhood distribution sites. Additionally, law enforcement officials report that some African American and Hispanic street gang members from New York City are beginning to base their crack distribution operations in rural areas of the region, where they believe law enforcement resources may be limited. Street-level drug dealers in some New England communities are polydrug traffickers; they distribute small quantities of multiple drugs--such as marijuana, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, and other drugs such as MDMA--from the same location, according to law enforcement officials.

Asian DTOs distribute Canadian high-potency, hydroponically produced marijuana, and synthetic drugs such as MDMA and methamphetamine tablets in the NE HIDTA region. These groups operate primarily from the Lowell area and supply Asian, Caucasian, and Hispanic criminal groups involved in retail distribution.

Local independent dealers and OMGs are the primary retail distributors of CPDs in the NE HIDTA region. They generally obtain these drugs through various diversion methods such as doctor-shopping, forgery, fraud, and theft as well as over the Internet. Numerous armed robberies that take place at pharmacies in New England are committed by abusers who are seeking CPDs for personal use and for distribution to other abusers. Distributors who acquire CPDs over the Internet obtain supplies from domestic and foreign sources. For example, embossing on OxyContin tablets seized by law enforcement officials in Warwick, Rhode Island, indicated that the tablets had been manufactured by Purdue Pharma for limited distribution in Argentina and Brazil.

Drug traffickers operating in the NE HIDTA region use commonplace and sophisticated communications technology to facilitate their drug trafficking distribution operations. Traffickers routinely use cell phones, text messaging, the Internet, and other routine communications devices; some also use satellite phones, HF/UHF/VHF radio communications, video surveillance devices, global positioning systems, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), and peer-to-peer services. Traffickers routinely change communication methods and use multiple cell phones, or they use a phone for a limited period of time before switching to a new phone with a new phone number to reduce the possibility of call monitoring.

Electronic communications technology enables drug traffickers and street gang members to conduct their activities across cities, states, and countries. Internet-based methods such as social networking sites, encrypted e-mail, Internet telephony,7 and instant messaging as well as prepaid cell phones and prepaid calling cards are commonly used by members of trafficking groups to communicate with one another and with customers. Street gang members often use Internet-based social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube to recruit new members, brag about their activities, or communicate threats. They also use prepaid cell phones (for voice conversations and text messaging), encrypted e-mail, password-protected web sites, and prepaid phone cards to exchange information regarding specific criminal activity, believing that these systems offer greater security and anonymity. Street gang members also use certain Internet telephony services that they feel are secure. In exploiting electronic communications, gang members frequently use their own gang-specific symbols and coded language.

Footnotes

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