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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
Atlanta HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
May 2010
Mexican DTOs continue to use the Atlanta HIDTA region as the leading drug distribution center and bulk cash consolidation center in the eastern United States. They are the principal wholesale drug distributors in the region, supplying most other midlevel and retail-level traffickers in the region, particularly African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic (including Dominican) distributors.
Mexican DTOs operating in the Atlanta HIDTA region consist of local independent distribution cells that typically use their familial connections in Mexico to obtain wholesale quantities of drugs and distribution cells that are part of drug cartels operating in Mexico, which include cartel-connected bulk cash coordinators. Independent distribution cells, comprising most of the Mexican DTOs operating in the Atlanta HIDTA region, are not affiliated with any specific cartel in Mexico. As long as members of independent distribution cells receive sufficient supplies of drugs, they are not concerned with which cartel in Mexico supplies the drugs. Nonetheless, several Mexican cartels operate in the region as evidenced by Project Coronado, a 2-year federal investigation that targeted members of La Familia Michoacána. (See text box.) Members of both independent cells and cartel-affiliated cells in Atlanta are increasingly recruiting into their distribution operations young men (typically in their early 20s) of Mexican descent who have been raised in the United States. Law enforcement officers report that the American upbringing of these men tends to make them more knowledgeable about American social norms, helping them to better conceal their drug trafficking activities from law enforcement.
Federal Investigation Targets La Familia Michoacána Operating in Atlanta In October 2009, 11 alleged members of La Familia Michoacána, a large polydrug organization with cells in the Atlanta metropolitan area, were indicted in Georgia's Northern Judicial District. The Georgia investigation was part of a nationwide investigation targeting La Familia cells in Atlanta; Chicago, Illinois; Charlotte; and Dallas, Texas, that resulted in the arrest of more than 300 members of the organization in 15 states. According to the indictment, federal, state, and local law enforcement officials in Georgia seized more than $1 million in U.S. currency, 800 pounds of marijuana, 5 kilograms of cocaine, 2 pounds of ice methamphetamine, and numerous assault weapons from stash houses in Clayton and Spaulding Counties. Source: Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Georgia. |
Mexican DTOs are decentralizing their drug stash house and distribution operations by moving to more rural areas in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and, increasingly, Alabama to avoid law enforcement pressure in the Atlanta HIDTA region. Mexican DTOs have begun to store cocaine in Birmingham and Montgomery before transporting it--in amounts required for immediate midlevel and retail-level distribution--to Atlanta. Mexican DTOs are moving their stash locations and seeking more rural locations because they perceive there are fewer law enforcement resources there to target them. In 2009, law enforcement officers dismantled a Mexican DTO operating out of Wayne County, North Carolina. Members of the organization transported 20 to 30 kilograms of cocaine per month from Mexico to North Carolina. Once the cocaine was in North Carolina, members packaged it into smaller quantities for distribution in drug markets in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
UNCLASSIFIED
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