U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
New England HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
June 2010

Production

Most of the illicit drugs distributed in the NE HIDTA region are produced at locations outside the region; however, marijuana production occurs at indoor and outdoor grow sites throughout New England. Data from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) reveal that the number of cannabis plants eradicated from indoor and outdoor grow sites in the region trended upward in 2009, reaching the second-highest total since 2005. (See Table 2.) Production levels are rising in some areas of New England where young adults are increasingly renting properties in rural locations and establishing indoor grow sites. An increasing number of weapons are also being encountered at grow sites in the region.

Table 2. Cannabis Plants Eradicated at Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation Sites in the New England HIDTA Region, 2005-2009

Source: Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program.

Transportation

Drug traffickers exploit the NE HIDTA's proximity to New York City and the eastern provinces of Canada as well as the region's vast transportation network, which provides links to drug sources in other regions of the United States and internationally. Numerous land ports of entry (POEs) and the mostly remote, 759-mile land boundary along the U.S.-Canada border provide traffickers with various avenues to transport drug shipments from foreign locations to the NE HIDTA region. International airports and maritime ports further facilitate illicit drug smuggling into and through the region. In 2008, Boston Logan International Airport, New England's largest air transportation center, ranked 28th in the world for passenger traffic. Major airports are also located in Hartford; Providence; Burlington, Vermont; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Portland and Bangor, Maine. Major commercial seaports are located in Bridgeport, Groton, New London, and New Haven, Connecticut; Boston and Fall River, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Eastport, Portland, Sandy Point, and Searsport, Maine. Six major interstate highways, three intraregional interstates, and a network of secondary and tertiary roadways link New England to major population centers throughout the country. Additionally, Interstates 89, 90, 91, 93, and 95 offer direct routes through New England to locations at or near the U.S.-Canada border.

Traffickers in the region frequently use transportation brokers and couriers who specialize in smuggling contraband, primarily overland. These specialists employ a variety of sophisticated concealment methods, use countersurveillance measures, alter methods of communication, and frequently change routes and methods of conveyance to thwart law enforcement interdiction efforts. Traffickers also send drugs and drug proceeds through the mail and parcel delivery services.

UNCLASSIFIED

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