U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center

Title:

Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2010

Publication Date: May 2010

Document ID: 2010-R0813-009

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.

Your questions, comments, and suggestions for future subjects are welcome at any time. Addresses are provided at the end of the page.

Contents

List of Figures

Figure 1. Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

List of Tables

Table 1. Gulf Coast HIDTA Initiative Seizures, by Drug, in Kilograms, 2009

List of Tables in Appendix A

Table A1. Cannabis Plants Eradicated at Indoor Grow Sites in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, 2005-2009
Table A2. Cannabis Plants Eradicated at Outdoor Grow Sites in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, 2005-2009
Table A3. Methamphetamine Laboratories Seized in Gulf Coast HIDTA Counties, 2005-2009

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

The principal drug threats to the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region are the distribution and abuse of cocaine and the production, distribution, and abuse of methamphetamine. In addition, the abuse of chemically infused herbal mixtures, such as K2, Spice, Genie, and Mojo, which imitate the effects of marijuana, poses an emerging threat to the region.

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

• Cocaine availability at the wholesale level rebounded in 2009. The cocaine shortages experienced in the region during 2007 and 2008 have abated, and cocaine is readily available throughout the region. In fact, cocaine prices at the wholesale level decreased in some of the larger cities in the region from late 2008 to mid-2009. Cocaine availability is expected to remain at levels sufficient to support market demand in the near term.
   
• Methamphetamine laboratory seizures increased 23 percent from 2008 to 2009 in the Gulf Coast HIDTA region, suggesting rising methamphetamine production. Increasing production is attributed to the growing popularity of the one-pot production method and the many pseudoephedrine smurfing operations in the region.a State legislatures in Alabama and Mississippi have responded to pseudoephedrine smurfing by enacting tighter regulations on the sale of products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine. National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) analysts expect that the legislation, when successfully implemented, will inhibit pseudoephedrine smurfing operations and lead to decreasing methamphetamine production in the region. NDIC analysts further expect that this situation will create an opportunity for increased Mexican methamphetamine distribution in the region because of traffickers' diminished ability to produce the drug locally and the presence of an established abuser population.
   
• Although legal throughout the Gulf Coast HIDTA region, chemically infused herbal mixtures aimed at mimicking the effects of marijuana, commonly dubbed "synthetic marijuana" or "legal weed" by users, are becoming increasingly popular, particularly among high school students.

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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 Southeast/Florida/Caribbean Unit, Regional Threat Analysis Branch through NDIC.Contacts@usdoj.gov.

Footnote

a. Pseudoephedrine smurfing is a method used by some methamphetamine producers to acquire large quantities of pseudoephedrine by enlisting the assistance of several friends or associates to make purchases at or below the legal thresholds from multiple retail locations.

UNCLASSIFIED

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