National Drug Intelligence Center   Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2009   February 2009   UNCLASSIFIED

Abuse

Drug-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in the region are at relatively high levels. According to DASA data, the number of methamphetamine-related treatment admissions increased from 5,913 admissions in 2004 to 9,005 admissions in 2006, before decreasing to 8,231 admissions in 2007, the latest year for which such data are available. (See Table 5; see Table 6.) Law enforcement officials reported a decline in methamphetamine availability in 2007, which may have resulted in fewer methamphetamine treatment admissions for that year. Methamphetamine availability in the region has since returned to higher levels, which may lead to increased abuse of the drug and increased admissions to treatment facilities in the HIDTA region. In King County, where nearly one-third of the state's population resides, methamphetamine abusers over 40 years of age are the fastest-growing abuser population seeking treatment at publicly funded treatment facilities, according to DASA.

Source: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
*State fiscal year (SFY) is from July 1 to June 30.

Source: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
*SFY is from July 1 to June 30.

The number of marijuana-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities has also increased in the HIDTA region. (See Table 5.) In 2004, 6,705 marijuana-related treatment admissions were reported by DASA; such treatment admissions increased to 7,535 in 2007. According to public health officials, increasing abuse of high-potency marijuana is a probable cause of the increase in marijuana-related treatment admissions. While marijuana abuse crosses all age groups in King County, those 26 years and older are increasingly seeking treatment at public treatment facilities.

Cocaine-related treatment admissions in the HIDTA region similarly increased from 2,998 in 2004 to 4,336 in 2007. According to law enforcement officials, cocaine abuse in the region may have increased as some methamphetamine abusers, faced with diminished supplies of the drug in 2007 and early 2008, substituted cocaine for methamphetamine. In King County, individuals 40 years of age and older are the fastest-growing abuser population seeking treatment for cocaine abuse at publicly funded treatment facilities, according to DASA.

The number of heroin-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in the HIDTA region decreased in 2007 (2,973) from 2006 (3,302), after peaking in 2005 (3,554). (See Table 5.) However, adult treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities for prescription opioid12 abuse are increasing statewide, according to DASA, which may indicate that some abusers are substituting prescription opioids for heroin. Despite the decline in heroin-related treatment admissions, heroin abuse is still a major health concern in larger metropolitan areas such as King County. DASA reports that individuals under 30 years of age and individuals 50 and older are the fasting-growing heroin abuser populations seeking treatment in King County.

Other drugs are abused throughout the region. Abusers and distributors acquire CPDs through a variety of means, including Internet purchases, doctor-shopping, drug theft, and prescription fraud. Washington has a prescription drug monitoring program (RCW 70.225) to identify and curtail CPD diversion, but the Washington State Department of Health has not yet finalized rules and regulations for data collection that may help to reduce instances of illegal diversion. According to DASA, individuals 30 years of age and younger are the fastest-growing abuser population seeking treatment for CPD abuse in King County. Additionally, other dangerous drugs (ODDs) such as MDMA, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, ketamine, and GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) are distributed and abused within the region.

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Illicit Finance

Traffickers launder illicit drug proceeds generated in the HIDTA region using various methods. Mexican DTOs and criminal groups generally transport cash in bulk to southwestern states, where the funds are typically aggregated and eventually smuggled to Mexico. Once in Mexico, bulk cash is often deposited into a Mexican bank or a casa de cambio (exchange house) and subsequently repatriated to the United States. Asian DTOs and criminal groups also use bulk cash smuggling to move their illicit proceeds out of the region; they typically transport illicit proceeds to Canada in private vehicles through POEs along the U.S.-Canada border.

Traffickers operating in the HIDTA region also structure13 drug proceeds through electronic wire transfer services and domestic banks,14 commingle drug proceeds with funds from cash-intensive businesses, use casinos to mask the nature of illicit proceeds, and use their funds to purchase real estate and luxury items such as automobiles and jewelry. For example, Spokane law enforcement officials report that members of Mexican criminal groups frequently use front businesses such as restaurants, cleaning services, and landscaping firms to launder drug proceeds.

Footnotes

12. Prescription opioids include nonheroin opioids and synthetics, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and prescribed opioid substitutes.
13. A person structures a transaction if that person, acting alone, or in conjunction with or on behalf of other persons, conducts or attempts to conduct one or more transactions in currency, in any amount, at one or more financial institutions, on one or more days, in any manner, for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements under Title 31. "In any manner" includes but is not limited to the breaking down of a single sum of currency exceeding $10,000 into smaller sums, including sums at or below $10,000. The transaction or transactions need not exceed the $10,000 reporting threshold at any single financial institution on any single day in order to constitute structuring within the meaning of this definition.
14. Options available to traffickers include the use of structured transmittals through money services businesses (MSBs), structured bank deposits, and/or structured wire transfers through banks to launder money.

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