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

Drug Trafficking Organizations

(U) Colombian, Dominican, and Mexican DTOs pose the greatest organizational drug threats to the NY/NJ HIDTA region, supplying most of the available cocaine, South American heroin, and marijuana. These organizations generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs and associated activities in the region. The HIDTA region is one of the greatest strongholds for Colombian DTOs in the United States, and these organizations act as wholesale suppliers to other DTOs throughout the region and along the East Coast. Dominican DTOs also are deeply entrenched in the region, distributing drugs at all levels, supplying markets throughout the HIDTA region, and expanding their operations, particularly in New Jersey. Mexican DTOs distribute a more diverse range of drugs than most Colombian and Dominican groups and supply areas throughout the Northeast from the NY/NJ HIDTA region.

Colombian DTOs

(LES) Colombian DTOs have retained a stronghold in the NY/NJ HIDTA region that is likely to continue in the near term despite their diminished influence in most other areas of the United States. These organizations are the principal wholesale1 distributors of cocaine and heroin, supplying multihundred-kilogram quantities of these drugs to other DTOs in the region and along the East Coast.2 Colombian DTOs operating in the NY/NJ HIDTA region supply midlevel and retail-level dealers in New York and New Jersey as well as DTOs in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia.3 In 2009, Colombian DTOs most commonly supplied cocaine and heroin to Dominican organizations; however, they also supplied lower-level Colombian and Mexican traffickers and traffickers of other ethnicities.

(LES) Colombian organizations operating in the NY/NJ HIDTA region often report to command-and-control structures outside the United States. Colombian DTOs investigated by the OCDETF in 2009 typically reported to organizations in Colombia; one reported to a Colombian organization in the Dominican Republic.4 Other Colombian DTOs operating in the HIDTA region had associates in Guatemala, Panama, and Venezuela.5 These direct connections to sources of supply allow Colombian DTOs to provide a steady flow of cocaine and heroin into the region and retain their role as major wholesalers.

(LES) Colombian DTOs are increasingly using Mexico6 as a transshipment point for cocaine and heroin destined for the HIDTA region, indicating an increased role for Mexican DTOs in transporting drugs on behalf of Colombian organizations. Colombian DTOs arrange to have cocaine and heroin transported from Colombia to Mexico, where Mexican DTOs smuggle the drugs across the Southwest Border. Colombian DTOs are increasingly using Mexican groups as transporters to insulate themselves from the aspects of the drug trade most vulnerable to law enforcement interdiction. Some Colombian suppliers are now taking an even smaller role in transportation duties, handing off cocaine and heroin to Mexican transporters in Colombia rather than Mexico.7 In at least one OCDETF investigation, Colombian DTOs also used the Dominican Republic as a transshipment point for cocaine and heroin destined for the region.8 Operation Second Chance involved a Colombian organization that transported cocaine by air from Colombia, through Venezuela, to the Dominican Republic with the intent to transport drugs via maritime vessel to Miami, Florida, and New York City.9

(LES) Prices and profit margins vary for cocaine and heroin supplied by Colombian DTOs. Aside from drug purity and availability at source location, other factors that influence prices include transport distance and mode, smuggling costs, courier fees, and destination.10 For example, Mexican organizations that transport cocaine and heroin across the Southwest Border for Colombian DTOs charge higher prices for the drugs the more distant the market is from the border.11

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Dominican DTOs

(LES) Dominican DTOs are deeply entrenched in the NY/NJ HIDTA region and were the subject of more OCDETF investigations in 2009 than any other organization, an indication of their prominent drug trafficking role in the region. Each of the Dominican DTOs investigated by the OCDETF in 2009 was involved in trafficking cocaine or heroin or both; some also supplied marijuana.12 Dominican organizations span all levels of drug distribution, from wholesale organizations importing 50 kilograms of cocaine per month to low-level street crews.13

(LES) Dominican DTOs operating in the HIDTA region have developed connections to various sources of supply for cocaine and heroin outside the United States. Many Dominican organizations receive cocaine and heroin from sources in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Colombia, indicating these DTOs are highly organized and well-connected.14 Some Dominican organizations are supplied by Colombian and Mexican DTOs operating in the HIDTA region. Most Dominican DTOs report to command-and-control structures based outside the United States in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, and South America.15 In addition to their longstanding practice of using drug couriers on commercial airlines, some Dominican organizations are now using tractor-trailers to transport drugs across the Southwest Border, an indication that some Dominican DTOs are cooperating with Mexican organizations for drug transportation in a relationship similar to that between Colombian and Mexican organizations.16

(LES) Major Dominican DTOs operating in the HIDTA region supply cocaine and heroin to Dominican midlevel dealers17 who, in turn, supply retail-level criminal groups and street gangs of various ethnicities. Dominican DTOs are the primary suppliers of Dominican and African American retail distributors in New York City and of Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, and Dominican street gangs in New Jersey. They also continue to expand trafficking operations into upstate HIDTA counties, Long Island, and New Jersey. OCDETF investigations indicate that Dominican DTOs in New York City have branched out to New Jersey cities such as Newark and Paterson, establishing cells that distribute heroin delivered from New York City.18 Dominican traffickers also supply traffickers in other cities from their bases of operation in the HIDTA region. OCDETF investigations show that Dominican DTOs operating in the NY/NJ HIDTA region in 2009 supplied cocaine and heroin to organizations in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as to DTOs in southern New Jersey markets such as Atlantic City, Pennsylvania markets such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and areas in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.19

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Mexican DTOs

(LES) Mexican DTOs operating in the NY/NJ HIDTA region are more diversified than Colombian and Dominican DTOs, trafficking in cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and CPDs.20 They operate at all levels of the drug trade and are gaining a greater foothold in the HIDTA region by acting as transporters for Colombian and Dominican DTOs and through expansion of their own drug trafficking operations. All of the Mexican DTOs investigated by the OCDETF in 2009 were supplied by, and reported to, Mexican DTOs in California or Mexico.

(LES) Mexican DTOs operating in the region supply illicit drugs within the HIDTA region as well as to markets in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.21 Mexican DTOs are expanding their distribution operations from the HIDTA region to markets in central and southern New Jersey such as Camden,22 where there is less competition from Dominican organizations that control many northern New Jersey markets.

(LES) An increasing amount of the South American heroin available in the NY/NJ HIDTA region is transported from the Southwest Border, an indication of the growing involvement of Mexican DTOs and their relationships with Colombian organizations.23 These Mexican groups also transport limited quantities of Mexican heroin to the region. For instance, two of the Mexican DTOs investigated by the OCDETF in 2009 (in Operations Leyte Gulf and Seeded Connection) transported Mexican heroin into the region.24 These groups may have been trying to establish new markets for Mexican heroin in the HIDTA region, which is currently dominated by South American heroin.

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Gangs

(U) Street gangs that have historically been the principal retail-level drug distributors in urban areas of the NY/NJ HIDTA region have expanded their retail-level operations from New York City and Newark and are now serving as midlevel and wholesale-level distributors in other locations in the region. Street gangs are responsible for a significant amount of the violent and property crime in the HIDTA region. Their members often use firearms to defend their turf or acquire new distribution territories.

(U) Street gangs in the NY/NJ HIDTA region have expanded their operations beyond their traditional role as retail drug distributors in New York City and Newark and are now serving as midlevel and wholesale-level distributors in suburban areas, Upstate markets, and rural locations in the region. Street gangs are now fully entrenched in many upstate cities, most notably Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. In some cases, street gangs supply local distributors of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in some of these markets. For example, local distributors in Syracuse are supplied by gang members from Newark, Orange, and Paterson in northern New Jersey. In other cases, the expansion of street gang drug distribution operations has come at the expense of local independent dealers and small local criminal groups who are often intimidated by these gangs and cannot effectively compete with them in smaller drug markets.

(LES) Street gangs and robbery crews (typically comprising gang members) are responsible for a significant amount of the violent and property crime in the HIDTA region and adjacent jurisdictions. In addition to drug distribution, street gangs and robbery crews profit from robberies of local homes, businesses, and other gangs and from weapons trafficking. Street gang members often use firearms to demand respect, defend their turf, or acquire new distribution territories. For example, a Dominican robbery crew based in New York City conducted violent home-invasion style robberies of large-scale DTOs and gangs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.25 Their typical method of operation was to impersonate police officers--complete with police lights, sirens, and raid jackets--and rob their victims of drugs and drug proceeds.26 On May 6, 2010, a New York City police officer was indicted for his role in providing the raid jackets and other New York Police Department (NYPD) paraphernalia and equipment to the crew.27 This officer also participated in some of the robberies.28 In one robbery of a large-scale DTO, this crew netted more than 400 kilograms of cocaine.

(LES) Law enforcement officials report gangs such as Bloods, Crips, Dominicans Don't Play (DDP), Folk Nation, Latin Kings, Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13), Ņetas, Trinitarios, and hundreds of small, unaffiliated neighborhood gangs with members totaling in the thousands operate in the New York City metropolitan area. The Bloods and the Crips are the most prevalent street gangs operating in the region, with Bloods membership in New York City alone exceeding 5,000. The Trinitarios is one of the fastest growing and most violent gangs in New York City. Members are Dominican males in their late teens and early twenties who view their gang as a family. The Trinitarios biggest rival in the NY/NJ HIDTA region is the DDP gang, whose members are also heavily involved in drug distribution and drug robbery. The Folk Nation, Latin Kings, and MS 13 all operate in the HIDTA region and derive most of their income from drug distribution. In Operation Blowback, MS 13 members in New Jersey served as enforcers for a local Dominican DTO. In addition to performing violent acts at the behest of the DTO, MS 13 members also obtained drug supplies from the DTO for retail distribution.29

(U) More than half (74) of the 143 local law enforcement agencies in the region surveyed for this report indicated that the level of street gang activity in their area was moderate to high. Survey data also indicated that most street gang members distribute crack cocaine at the retail level. However, many gang members are polydrug distributors, and survey respondents indicated that street gang distribution occurred at moderate to high levels for powder cocaine (71 of 143), heroin (67 of 143), and marijuana (81 of 143). Moreover, many street gangs are increasingly distributing CPDs, as indicated by 45 respondents. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. (U) Law Enforcement Agency Reporting of Drug Distribution by Street Gangs and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Moderate to High Levels

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Source: 143 agencies surveyed in the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

(U) Most of the outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) operating in the region are in Upstate New York and are involved in Canadian marijuana and MDMA distribution. Nearly half (69 of 143) of the agencies surveyed indicated no OMG activity in their jurisdictions, while 52 agencies indicated low to moderate OMG activity.

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