National Drug Intelligence Center   North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2009   April 2009

Drug Threat Overview

Methamphetamine and cocaine pose the most significant drug threats to the North Texas HIDTA region. Of the 104 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies' respondents to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 20093 within the North Texas HIDTA Region, 66 identify methamphetamine, most notably ice methamphetamine, as the greatest drug threat to their jurisdictions, and 20 identify cocaine, predominantly crack cocaine. (See Table 1.) Most respondents also indicate that each of these drugs is readily available in their jurisdictions. (See Table 2.)

Table 1. Greatest Drug Threat in the North Texas HIDTA Region, as Reported by Law Enforcement Agencies

Source: National Drug Threat Survey 2009.
NR--Not reported.

Table 2. Drug Availability in the North Texas HIDTA Region, as Reported by Law Enforcement Agencies

Source: National Drug Threat Survey 2009.

Mexican ice methamphetamine is the dominant form of the drug available in the HIDTA region; however, locally produced powder methamphetamine is becoming increasingly available in some areas of Oklahoma in the HIDTA region--particularly Tulsa County--as well as areas outside the HIDTA region, where law enforcement resources are less concentrated. Overall, powder methamphetamine production in the North Texas HIDTA region has decreased dramatically since 2004 as a result of the enactment of state4 and local precursor chemical control legislation. Cocaine, both powder and crack, continues to be available in the area. Crack cocaine conversion, distribution, and abuse are most problematic in some of the communities within the low-income urban areas of Dallas, Fort Worth, Lawton, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa. Marijuana, usually commercial-grade Mexican marijuana, poses a serious drug threat to the HIDTA region because it is readily available and frequently abused and serves as a significant cash crop for Mexican DTOs. Contributing to this threat is hydroponically grown marijuana, which is in high demand in the region, particularly in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Heroin, primarily Mexican black tar, is available, and the demand for and abuse of cheese heroin5 remains a serious problem among area youth, particularly in Dallas County. The abuse of diverted CPDs--notably hydrocodone, methadone, and oxycodone products--presents a growing threat to the HIDTA region, particularly in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties. The distribution and abuse of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) poses a growing concern, specifically in the Dallas/Fort Worth suburb of Arlington, but the drug poses a much lesser threat in the North Texas HIDTA region than the threats posed by methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. PCP (phencyclidine) is also available, most notably in Dallas, Tulsa, and Muskogee Counties. (See Table 2.)

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Marijuana seizure totals resulting from North Texas HIDTA initiatives increased 118 percent overall in 2008 when compared with seizure totals in 2007. In fact, law enforcement officers assigned to North Texas HIDTA task force initiatives seized more commercial-grade and hydroponic marijuana in 2008 than they seized in each of the 2 previous years. Notably, hydroponic marijuana seizure totals increased 156 percent in 2008 when compared with the totals seized in 2007. In addition, law enforcement officers in non-HIDTA-related operations in 2008 seized a considerable number of cannabis plants that were being cultivated at locations within the HIDTA region. (See text box.) Powder cocaine seizure totals were 15 percent lower in 2008 than in 2007, while the total amount of crack cocaine seized increased during this period. HIDTA task force officers also report that drug seizure totals for heroin and MDMA increased dramatically in 2008, far exceeding the seizure totals for those drugs in each of the 2 previous years. (See Table 3.)

Table 3. Drug Seizures, North Texas HIDTA Initiatives, in Kilograms, 2006-2008

Source: North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
NR--No seizures reported.
* The North Texas HIDTA did not include prescription drugs as a category in 2008.

Powder methamphetamine production levels in the North Texas HIDTA region have declined significantly since 2004, although production of the drug in Tulsa County increased in 2008. National Seizure System (NSS) data indicate that the number of methamphetamine laboratories seized in North Texas HIDTA counties in 2008 (43) increased slightly, when compared with the number of laboratories seized in 2007 (40), but was dramatically lower than the number seized in 2006 (72), 2005 (112), and 2004 (272). (See Table 4.) The majority of methamphetamine laboratory seizures from 2004 through 2008 occurred in Oklahoma, most notably Tulsa County, where the 5-year total for laboratories seized (205) was more than half the 5-year total for all North Texas HIDTA Oklahoma counties (391) and exceeded the 5-year total for all North Texas HIDTA Texas counties (148). The number of methamphetamine laboratories seized in Tulsa County declined substantially in the years following 2004; however, in 2008 the number of laboratories seized (32) increased 100 percent when compared with the number seized in 2007 (16). Law enforcement reporting in Oklahoma attributes this increase in laboratory activity in large part to the diluted retail-level quality and increasing price of ice methamphetamine from Mexico, the increased presence of previously convicted methamphetamine laboratory operators who were released from prison, and the ability of producers to obtain precursor chemicals such as pseudoephedrine through "smurfing" operations.6 All of the laboratories seized in the North Texas HIDTA region in 2008 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. Nevertheless, most traffickers in the North Texas HIDTA region typically purchase large quantities of ice methamphetamine from Mexican traffickers because it is available and generally easier to obtain than locally produced methamphetamine.

Table 4. Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures in North Texas HIDTA Counties, 2004-2008*

Source: National Seizure System, as of January 23, 2009.
* Data are for laboratory seizures only (chemical/equipment and dumpsite seizure incidents are excluded). HIDTA counties not listed had no reported laboratory seizures from 2004 through 2008.
** Methamphetamine laboratory seizures as reported by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs; data current as of March 31, 2009.

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 drug markets throughout the United States, including Chicago, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; Greer, South Carolina; Kansas City, Kansas; Fayetteville, North Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee; Menasha, Wisconsin; Pikeville, Kentucky; Shreveport, Louisiana; and St. Louis, Missouri. 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 70 DTOs and money laundering organizations (MLOs) (66 and 4, respectively) in 2008; in comparison, law enforcement officials supporting the HIDTA's initiatives in 2006 and 2007 arrested members of 73 DTOs and MLOs in each of those years. According to North Texas HIDTA Performance Management Process (PMP) data, the majority of the DTOs and MLOs in 2008 included criminals of Hispanic ethnicity who ran international (32--which includes the 4 MLOs), multistate (17), or local (21) drug trafficking operations. Forty-five of the DTOs were polydrug organizations that most often distributed cocaine, marijuana, and ice methamphetamine. (See Table 6 in Drug Trafficking Organizations section.)

Footnotes

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