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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
Los Angeles HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
May 2010
The Los Angeles HIDTA region--composed of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties--is one of the most populous areas in the country, with almost 17 million residentsa in more than 32,000 square miles of territory. (See Figure 1.) It is a principal production, transportation, and distribution center for illicit drugs available in the region and in many other U.S. drug markets.
Figure 1. Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
The region is one of the most significant gateways for illicit drugs available in the United States, because illicit drugs that are smuggled across the California-Mexico border for distribution in and outside the area typically pass through drug markets located in the region. Most of the bulk cash and monetary instruments generated by drug traffickers and other criminals in the region, and a significant portion of the drug proceeds generated in many other U.S. locations, are smuggled overland from the area into Mexico for many of the same reasons that traffickers use the region as a base for drug smuggling activities.
Drug traffickers also exploit the region's geographic composition for illicit drug production--typically methamphetamine production, cannabis cultivation, and PCP production. The Inland Empire, which encompasses San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, is made up of metropolitan as well as rural areas. (See Figure 1.) San Bernardino is the largest county by area in the United States,b and Riverside ranks fourth, which makes detection of methamphetamine laboratories and cannabis fields difficult. Climate conditions also are ideal for traffickers who maintain robust cannabis crops. Additionally, Asian (particularly Vietnamese) DTOs and criminal groups cultivate significant and increasing quantities of high-potency cannabis indoors, particularly in upscale suburban neighborhoods, where most residents have little interaction with their neighbors. African American and Hispanic criminal groups and street gangs produce PCP in inner-city neighborhoods and in the high desert areas of San Bernardino.
a. U.S. Census estimates indicate that approximately 46 percent of all California residents reside in the Los Angeles HIDTA region.
b. San Bernardino County is larger in area than each of the nine smallest states in the country.
UNCLASSIFIED
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