National Drug Intelligence Center   Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2009   April 2009

Production

Cannabis cultivation is limited in Puerto Rico and primarily involves Puerto Rican DTOs and criminal groups.6 Law enforcement officials report that local growers typically establish indoor grow sites in residences located in wealthy, gated communities, in isolated communities of west central Puerto Rico, and on the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra because of the islands' relative isolation and sparse law enforcement presence.

Cannabis cultivation is prevalent in the USVI. Outdoor cannabis cultivation is widespread, and indoor cannabis cultivation is increasing throughout the USVI; most of this cannabis is intended for local consumption. The DEA, USVI Police Department, and USVI and Puerto Rico National Guards eradicated approximately 10,000 cannabis plants from outdoor grow sites on St. Croix in June 2008. In the face of such eradication efforts, many cannabis cultivators have moved their grow operations indoors in an attempt to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. Cannabis cultivators also locate their operations indoors to attain a higher profit margin. Moreover, indoor cannabis cultivators are increasingly producing high-potency marijuana through hydroponic growing methods because of the higher profit potential for this type of marijuana. For example, price data from the PR/USVI HIDTA reveal that marijuana produced from cannabis grown outdoors in the USVI sells for $600 to $700 per pound, whereas high-potency hydroponic marijuana sells for $1,000 to $1,600 per pound.

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Transportation

The PR/USVI HIDTA region is a U.S. arrival zone for illicit drugs transported from South America, particularly cocaine destined for U.S. drug markets. HIDTA officials estimate that drug traffickers transport metric-ton quantities of cocaine and multikilogram quantities of SA heroin through the HIDTA en route to drug markets in the CONUS. For instance, law enforcement officials in drug markets in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania report that cocaine and SA heroin sold in their jurisdictions often transits Puerto Rico during shipment. Traffickers also transport significant quantities of cocaine and SA heroin through the HIDTA region en route to other areas, such as Africa, Canada, and Europe.

DTOs transport cocaine and SA heroin into the HIDTA region directly from Venezuela--the major departure point in South America for cocaine destined for the HIDTA region--or Colombia. DTOs also transport cocaine and SA heroin into the region indirectly from the west through Hispaniola or from the east through the islands of the Lesser Antilles. The principal cocaine trafficking route to western Puerto Rico is from Venezuela to Hispaniola and then through Hispaniola, primarily the Dominican Republic. The principal cocaine trafficking route to eastern Puerto Rico extends from Venezuela to St. Martin, through St. Thomas, and on to Vieques or Culebra. DTOs typically transport drugs throughout the region in commercial cargo aboard maritime or air conveyances; they also use go-fast boats and couriers traveling aboard ferryboats. Additionally, some traffickers employ couriers traveling aboard ferryboats to smuggle small quantities of cocaine from Vieques and Culebra to the main island of Puerto Rico.

Drug smuggling in containerized cargo is a significant maritime threat to the HIDTA region. The vast and increasing quantity of goods transshipped through the region every year provides drug traffickers with ample opportunity to smuggle illicit drugs into, through, and away from the area. Law enforcement officials can inspect only a fraction of the shipping containers arriving at ports in the HIDTA region, a situation that is reportedly exploited by DTOs.7 The Port of San Juan handled almost 9.5 million short tons of cargo in 2007.8 Additionally, the Port of Americas (POA), an expansion project of the Port of Ponce in Puerto Rico, handled an estimated 634,595 short tons of cargo from July 2006 through June 2007 (the latest year for which data are available) and is projected to handle over 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year when it becomes fully operational in 2012.9 Moreover, the Virgin Islands Port Authority indicates that seaports in the USVI handled over 1.02 million tons of cargo in fiscal year (FY) 2005 (the latest year for which such data are available).10

Traffickers transport illicit drugs into the PR/USVI HIDTA region on commercial air flights. The Puerto Rico Ports Authority reports that there are two international and nine regional airports in Puerto Rico, including one on each of the smaller island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra. The largest airport in Puerto Rico is the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, which processes over 10 million passengers per year, making it the busiest airport in the Caribbean in terms of passenger movement. The main airport in the USVI is the Cyril E. King Airport located on St. Thomas; it handles approximately 1 million passengers per year, according to the Virgin Islands Port Authority. The DEA Caribbean Field Division reports that in 2008, corrupt airport employees used their security privileges to avoid screeners and smuggled illegal drugs on board commercial flights destined for the CONUS. For example, one investigation revealed that airline employees stole luggage from the baggage handling area, inserted packages of cocaine into the luggage, and then retagged and rerouted the luggage to other flights.

Traffickers operating in the PR/USVI HIDTA region use parcel delivery services to transport drugs from Puerto Rico into the CONUS and from the CONUS to Puerto Rico. The DEA New England Field Division reports that the number of multikilogram drug shipments arriving by mail in the New England area from Puerto Rico increased over the past year. In 2008, approximately 200 kilograms of cocaine and 0.25 kilograms of heroin were seized from intercepted mail parcels sent from Puerto Rico intended for destinations in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. These amounts were significant decreases from the amounts intercepted in 2007 (over 835 kilograms of cocaine and 38 kilograms of heroin). CONUS-based traffickers also use parcel delivery services to send Mexican marijuana to Puerto Rico and the USVI. Most parcels containing Mexican marijuana originate from California and points along the Southwest Border.

Footnotes

6. No cannabis eradication data are available for Puerto Rico.
7. According to law enforcement officials, less than 5 percent of shipping containers arriving in Puerto Rico are inspected because of limited personnel and technical resources. DTOs capitalize on the limited number of container inspections, smuggling undetermined quantities of drugs through Puerto Rico and USVI seaports. Consequently, the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury is implementing measures to better identify container contents on vessels transiting local ports.
8. A short ton of cargo weighs 2,000 pounds.
9. Container ships are designed in such a manner that no space is wasted. Their capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the number of twenty-foot containers (each 20 x 8½ x 8½ feet, or 6 x 2.6 x 2.6 meters) a vessel can carry, even though the majority of containers used today are 40 feet (12 meters) in length.
10. The fiscal year (FY) extends from October through September.

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