(U) Arizona HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010 (UNCLASSIFIED)

Archived on: September 1, 2011. This document may contain dated information. It remains available to provide access to historical materials.

This assessment is an outgrowth of a partnership between the NDIC and HIDTA Program for preparation of annual assessments depicting drug trafficking trends and developments in HIDTA Program areas. The report has been coordinated with the HIDTA, is limited in scope to HIDTA jurisdictional boundaries, and draws upon a wide variety of sources within those boundaries.

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List of Figures

Figure 1. Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
Figure 2. Greatest Drug Threat to the Arizona HIDTA Region as Reported by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, by Number of Respondents

List of Tables

Table 1. Drugs Seized in Arizona HIDTA Counties, in Kilograms, 2005-2009
Table 2. Border Violence by County in Arizona, 2009
Table 3. Total Drug-Related Inpatient Discharges and Emergency Room Visits by Type of Drug, Arizona Residents, 2007-2008

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

The Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region is a major arrival zone for multiton quantities of marijuana, methamphetamine and, to a lesser extent, cocaine and heroin entering the United States from Mexico. Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) that control this activity and the smuggling of hundreds of millions of dollars in bulk cash drug proceeds annually from Arizona into Mexico pose the greatest organizational threat in the region. Violent street gangs that distribute illicit drugs at the wholesale and retail levels in the region pose a major public safety concern. The trafficking and abuse of methamphetamine, followed by marijuana, controlled prescription drugs (CPDs), and heroin, are the primary drug threats to the Arizona HIDTA region.

The following are significant strategic drug threat developments in the Arizona HIDTA region:

Forty-two percent of all marijuana seizures along the entire Southwest Border in 2009 took place in the Arizona HIDTA region, making it one of the primary arrival zones for marijuana entering the United States from Mexico.
Marijuana seizures of 1,000 pounds or more decreased in the region by nearly 20 percent from 2008 to 2009, while seizures of smaller quantities ranging from 200 to 500 pounds increased by nearly 29 percent in the same period, indicating that Mexican DTOs are smuggling smaller loads in an effort to avoid detection and minimize losses.
The Tohono O'odham Reservation, which straddles the Arizona-Mexico border, is a primary entry point and transit zone for illicit drugs and related criminal activity in the HIDTA region. Vast stretches of remote and sparsely populated desert on the reservation are mostly unprotected and difficult for law enforcement to adequately patrol. As such, it is expected that Mexican DTOs will expand their use of tribal lands to facilitate cross-border drug smuggling operations.
Mexican DTOs increasingly use subterranean tunnels to smuggle illicit drugs from Mexico into the United States. The majority of smuggling tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border have been discovered in Arizona, primarily in Nogales.
Mexican DTOs increasingly use ultralight aircraft to transport marijuana from Mexico into Arizona. These aircraft are difficult to detect and interdict, and it is expected that DTOs will begin to transport other drugs across the border using this method.
Gangs in Arizona are moving some of their operations from urban to rural areas. Law enforcement successes in cities have forced gang members into more isolated areas, where police are less familiar with gang presence.
Through criminal investigations and trace data analysis, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has identified that Mexican DTOs are using Arizona as a primary source in the United States for acquiring firearms, which are taken to Mexico to facilitate violence and to maintain control of their organizations.
Statewide discharge and emergency room data indicate increasing treatment admissions and emergency room visits for opiates than for amphetamines or cocaine, signaling the increasing abuse of heroin and controlled prescription opioids among Arizona residents. (See Table 3 in Abuse section.)

Addresses

Web Addresses

ADNET: http://ndicosa.adnet.sgov.gov
DOJ: http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/
LEO: https://www.leo.gov/http://leowcs.leopriv.gov/lesig/archive/ndic/index.htm
RISS: ndic.riss.net

Questions and comments may be directed to Southwest Unit, Regional Threat Analysis Branch through NDIC.Contacts@usdoj.gov.

Title:

Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2010

Publication Date: July 2010

Document ID: 2010-R0813-002

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

Addresses

Web Addresses