Production - Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2009

Methamphetamine laboratory seizures in the Northern California HIDTA region have declined significantly since 2004, largely as a result of successful law enforcement operations and regulatory efforts to control precursor chemicals in the United States and Mexico. (See Table 1.) However, the number of methamphetamine superlabs seized in the region increased from 2006 (1) through 2008 (4). HIDTA officials have noted that some Mexican DTOs are circumventing California state precursor chemical restrictions by employing large numbers of individuals to purchase legal quantities of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine from local retailers across the HIDTA region.

Table 1. Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures in the Northern California HIDTA Region, 2004-2008

Methamphetamine Yield per Production Cycle	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Less than 2 pounds	82	36	27	22	21
2 to 9 pounds	2	3	10	1	2
More than 10 pounds	7	6	1	2	4
Total	91	45	38	25	27

The Northern California HIDTA region is one of the most significant cannabis cultivation areas in the nation, and in some areas cultivation is increasing. According to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) data, in 2008 more than 5.3 million cannabis plants were eradicated from illicit outdoor and indoor grow operations in California (see Table 2), of which 20 percent (1,053,946 plants) were eradicated in the Northern California HIDTA region. DCE/SP data also show that the total number of cannabis plants eradicated in the HIDTA region has increased in each of the last 5 years. (See Tables 2 and 3.) HIDTA officials also report that some cannabis cultivators exploit California's state medical marijuana laws (see California Proposition 215 text box) to conduct illegal grow operations.

Table 2. Top-Ranking States for Cannabis Plants Eradicated, 2004-2008

2004		2005		2006		2007		2008
California	1,214,420	California	2,011,277	California	2,995,285	California	4,951,976	California	5,322,053
Kentucky	476,803	Kentucky	510,502	Kentucky	558,756	Kentucky	492,615	Washington	580,415
Tennessee	416,012	Tennessee	440,362	Tennessee	483,271	Washington	295,573	Tennessee	539,370
Hawaii	379,644	Hawaii	255,113	Hawaii	201,100	Oregon	277,766	Kentucky	353,170
Washington	134,474	Washington	136,165	Washington	144,181	Tennessee	178,322	West Virginia	146,553
Oregon	62,621	Arizona	113,523	Oregon	113,608	Hawaii	139,089	North Carolina	105,200

Table 3. Cannabis Plants Eradicated in the Northern California HIDTA Region, 2004-2008

County	Outdoor Plants					Indoor Plants
County	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Alameda	0	0	0	1,655	25,768	0	0	29,428	2,175	2,415
Contra Costa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7,804
Lake	81,991	136,781	346,336	506,788	495,035	1,502	7,581	79	1,176	3,815
Marin	0	0	22,740	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monterey	11,077	23,498	49,893	91,817	94,004	521	157	1,451	812	216
San Francisco	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12,745	0	0
San Mateo	3,196	167	5,850	11,120	19,184	941	479	9,278	9,681	16,706
Santa Clara	6,026	82,106	125,690	178,878	176,502	0	0	383	834	7,606
Santa Cruz	1,627	11,449	42,836	12,219	30,368	525	3,521	1,038	5,815	8,844
Sonoma	19,884	107,631	124,395	122,350	145,132	2,195	11,049	9,740	7,770	20,547
Total	123,801	361,632	717,740	924,827	985,993	5,684	22,787	64,142	28,263	67,953

Mexican DTOs operate a majority of the large outdoor grow sites in the region; they generally establish such grow sites in counties that encompass extensive remote locations, public lands, and rural areas such as Lake, Santa Clara, and Sonoma Counties. (See Figure 2.) These counties rank among the top 10 counties in the state for cannabis cultivation. Mexican DTOs typically employ illegal aliens to tend crop sites, provide protection from intruders (including law enforcement officers), and harvest the cannabis. According to law enforcement officials, many of the illegal aliens working for Mexican DTOs are doing so as payment for their entry into the United States.

Source: Drug Enforcement Administration San Francisco Field Division, Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program.

Public lands in remote areas of the region are increasingly used for outdoor cultivation, and law enforcement officials have noted that cannabis cultivators are protecting their grow sites through an increased presence of weapons, including high-caliber assault rifles. Additionally, the environmental damage caused by outdoor cannabis cultivation, particularly on public lands, is extensive. According to the National Forest System and California's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), law enforcement officers are encountering increasing numbers of dumpsites of highly toxic insecticides, chemical repellents, and other poisons. These toxic chemicals contaminate ground water, pollute watersheds, kill fish and other wildlife, and eventually enter residential water supplies. Redirecting natural water sources leads to erosion and impacts native vegetation.

Caucasian criminal groups and independent dealers are the predominant indoor cannabis cultivators in the HIDTA region and are also the primary producers of high-potency marijuana. Asian DTOs and criminal groups are becoming more involved with large-scale indoor cannabis cultivation and are beginning to produce significant quantities of high-potency marijuana in the region. Many of these traffickers commenced cannabis cultivation operations in the region over the past few years by establishing small indoor grow sites with limited marijuana production capabilities.

Indoor cannabis cultivators typically establish grow sites in multiple residences, often using hydroponic technology, sophisticated lighting, and irrigation systems. Indoor growers prefer the controlled environment because they can avoid intensified outdoor eradication efforts while achieving higher profits because of the year-round cultivation season; a new crop of higher-potency marijuana can be turned out every 90 days. Cannabis cultivators who operate large-scale indoor grows often modify electrical circuitry in the houses or bypass meters, creating hazardous conditions that can result in electrical shock or fire. In addition, they often use exhaust systems that are insufficient to vent the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide generated from cultivation activities. Moreover, as a result of the prolonged high humidity at indoor grow sites, the buildings that contain them can be rendered uninhabitable as a result of the growth of toxic molds. Additionally, grow sites are often booby-trapped to ward off thieves and law enforcement officers.

Transportation

The extensive transportation infrastructure in northern California (which has connections to other regions of the country), particularly the interstate highway system, is routinely exploited by drug traffickers to transport drugs into and throughout the HIDTA region. (See Figure 1.) Several major highways provide traffickers with direct access to several routes to drug sources located in other areas of California as well as in Mexico and Canada. Additionally, this highway system enables traffickers to modify transportation routes, adapt to changes in source areas, and counteract law enforcement interdiction operations with limited interruption to supply.

Traffickers transport illicit drug shipments on Interstates 5 and 80 and other major highways that allow high-speed access to the north, south, and east. Mexican DTOs transport wholesale quantities of illicit drugs into the Northern California HIDTA region using private and commercial vehicles, often equipped with hidden compartments. Local law enforcement has identified several businesses that specialize in the modification of private and commercial delivery vehicles that transport illicit drugs throughout the HIDTA region. For example, in April 2008, law enforcement officers arrested four members of a Mexican DTO who used their local trucking business in Cotati (Sonoma County), California, as a cover for transporting and distributing drugs throughout California. Officers also seized approximately 29 pounds of ice methamphetamine, 1 ounce of cocaine, 1 pound of marijuana, three assault rifles, two shotguns, and three handguns. The estimated street value of the methamphetamine was approximately $1.3 million.

Traffickers also transport a variety of illicit drugs and drug proceeds into and through the HIDTA region through package delivery services and the mail system, particularly from foreign sources. One of only 13 Customs International Mail Branches in the country (and one of three in the western United States) is located in Oakland. The high volume of packages transiting the area, particularly from Asia, makes detection and interdiction efforts at these facilities extremely challenging for U.S. Customs officials.

The use of the Internet to purchase illicit drugs, particularly from foreign suppliers in Europe or Mexico, has also increased transportation by package delivery services and the mail system. The Internet has enabled independent dealers, who historically traveled to Mexico to obtain CPDs, steroids, or ketamine, to purchase these drugs online. The large number of online suppliers makes tracking illicit purchases through the Internet difficult. In addition, illicit drugs obtained online are commonly purchased through Internet pay accounts, which require only limited personal information, further hindering law enforcement efforts.