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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
New England HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
June 2010
New York City-based Colombian DTOs are the primary wholesale suppliers of SA heroin and cocaine in the NE HIDTA region. They typically transport drugs to the region to supply midlevel and retail-level distributors. Colombian DTOs sometimes contract with Dominican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Jamaican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and other Central America- and Caribbean-based groups to smuggle heroin and cocaine directly into the region for distribution. Increased law enforcement pressure along the Southwest Border has led some DTOs to use smuggling routes through Venezuela, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Mexican DTOs have increased their operations in the NE HIDTA Region and are now significant wholesale suppliers of SA heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, which they transport directly from their sources of supply in Atlanta, Georgia; Houston and Dallas, Texas; and the Southwest Border area to New England. Mexican DTOs also supply limited amounts of ice methamphetamine to the region.
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La Familia Michoacana Drug Cartel Linked to Massachusetts In October 2009, the Attorney General of the United States announced the arrests of individuals in 19 states, including Massachusetts, during Project Coronado, a significant international law enforcement effort directed against the La Familia Michoacana Cartel. This violent Mexican DTO based in the southwestern state of Michoacán had been operating multiple cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine drug distribution cells in the United States. The DTO had smuggled large quantities of illicit drugs from Mexico to the United States and laundered millions of dollars in drug proceeds. The DTO had also acquired military-grade weapons and arranged to smuggle them into Mexico for use by La Familia. Law enforcement officials report that Project Coronado resulted in the arrests of 1,186 individuals and the seizure of approximately $33 million in U.S. currency, 1,999 kilograms of cocaine, 2,730 pounds of methamphetamine, 29 pounds of heroin, 16,390 pounds of marijuana, 389 weapons, 269 vehicles, and 2 clandestine drug laboratories. Source: U.S. Department of Justice. |
Dominican DTOs are significant transporters and distributors of retail-level quantities of cocaine, commercial-grade marijuana, SA heroin, and CPDs in the region. Some New England-based Dominican traffickers travel to New York City to obtain drug supplies from Colombian and Dominican DTOs; conversely, some Colombian and Dominican distributors from New York City travel to New England to supply illicit drugs to Dominican traffickers.
Asian polydrug trafficking organizations operating between New England and Canada are the primary producers, transporters, and distributors of Canadian high-potency hydroponic marijuana, MDMA, and synthetic drug combinations containing such substances as methamphetamine, MDMA, and MDA. They smuggle drug shipments from Canada for distribution in New England and elsewhere in the United States.
Guatemalan, East and West African, and Native American organizations are also active in the NE HIDTA region. Guatemalan DTOs transport SA heroin to the region and distribute retail quantities of heroin and cocaine. East African DTOs transport khat to the region for distribution to Somali communities in the Boston and Lewiston areas, while West African DTOs transport small quantities of Southwest Asian (SWA) heroin to the region for distribution. Native American traffickers smuggle high-potency Canadian marijuana to the region for further distribution in New England and other regions of the United States.
Street gangs such as 18th Street, Asian Boyz, Bloods, Crips, La Familia, Latin Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13), Ñeta, Sureños (Sur 13), Tiny Rascal Gangsters, and Vatos Locos distribute cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and CPDs in the NE HIDTA region. Most street gangs operating in New England can be classified as one of four main racial/ethnic groups--African American, Asian, Caucasian, or Hispanic. New York City and southern New England-based African American and Hispanic street gangs travel to areas throughout the NE HIDTA region to distribute powder cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin at higher prices than they command in their home areas. They also obtain weapons in the NE HIDTA region, which, along with drug proceeds, are typically returned to the gangs' urban bases of operation.
Members of international outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs), such as Hells Angels and Outlaws and their associates, distribute cocaine, marijuana, MDMA, powder methamphetamine, and CPDs in New England. Some OMG members also engage in various financial crimes, firearms offenses, and violent crimes, including assault and armed carjacking. Violence among OMGs is increasing in the region as the gangs and their associates compete for territory.
UNCLASSIFIED
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