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

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

• Cocaine usually is readily available throughout the PR/USVI HIDTA region because of the region's proximity to reliable international sources of supply; however, large cocaine seizures during the first 6 months of 2008 have resulted in sporadic cocaine shortages and higher cocaine prices at the wholesale level in Puerto Rico.
   
• Colombian drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) dominate wholesale cocaine and South American (SA) heroin trafficking into and through Puerto Rico and the USVI; these DTOs rely heavily on other Caribbean-based traffickers, including Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan DTOs and criminal groups, to transport drugs from South America into the PR/USVI HIDTA region.
   
• Dominican DTOs are increasingly controlling drug distribution in Puerto Rico; they are the principal transporters of illicit drugs into and through Puerto Rico and the USVI.

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HIDTA Overview

The PR/USVI HIDTA region consists of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the island archipelago of the USVI, which encompasses St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, and several other, smaller islands. The HIDTA region was established to combat the transshipment of illicit drugs from South America through Puerto Rico and the USVI to the continental United States (CONUS) and to target the distribution of illicit drugs within the region.

The PR/USVI HIDTA region is located between South America and the CONUS, along established drug trafficking routes in the eastern Caribbean. It is a U.S. arrival zone for illicit drugs transported from South America, particularly cocaine destined for U.S. drug markets. The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the USVI represent the southernmost point of entry into the United States for people and goods; shipping from the islands to other parts of the United States is considered to be coastwise trade, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials do not routinely inspect such cargo. Consequently, the HIDTA region is a convenient transshipment and consolidation point for drug traffickers who smuggle cocaine and SA heroin into the CONUS. Additionally, large amounts of illicit drugs transported from South America are transshipped from the PR/USVI HIDTA region to drug markets in other areas, such as Africa, Canada, and Europe.

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