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

Executive Summary

(U) The New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (NY/NJ HIDTA) region, specifically the New York City metropolitan area, is one of the largest drug markets and cocaine, heroin, and marijuana distribution centers in the United States. Colombian, Dominican, and Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) pose the greatest organizational drug threats to the NY/NJ HIDTA region. New York City is a national-level distribution center for multiton quantities of cocaine, South American heroin, and marijuana transported into and through the region. The St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border in northern New York, is the principal entry point for Canadian high-potency marijuana and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), into the NY/NJ HIDTA region. Traffickers operating in the region launder and move hundreds of millions of dollars annually through money services businesses (MSBs), structured deposits in traditional depository institutions, the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE), and bulk cash smuggling.

(U) While Colombian, Dominican, and Mexican DTOs pose the greatest organizational drug threats, urban street gangs are expanding their operations beyond traditional retail drug distribution.

• (U) Colombian DTOs maintain a dominant presence in the NY/NJ HIDTA region that is likely to continue in the near future despite their diminishing influence in most other areas of the United States.
   
• (U) Dominican DTOs are deeply entrenched in the NY/NJ HIDTA region and were the subject of more Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigations in 2009 than any other DTO.
   
• (U) Mexican DTOs are expanding their drug distribution operations in the region, particularly in New Jersey. They are more diversified than Colombian and Dominican DTOs that primarily distribute cocaine and heroin. Mexican traffickers also distribute marijuana, controlled prescription drugs (CPDs), and methamphetamine.
   
• (U) The threat from street gangs is increasing in many areas of the region as they have expanded their operations beyond traditional retail drug distribution in New York City and Newark to midlevel and wholesale distribution in suburban areas, Upstate markets, and rural locations. Drug distribution by street gangs in these smaller markets is expected to result in increased violent and property crime.

(U) Analysis of indicator data, price and purity data, seizure data, distribution trends, and demand data, shows that drug availability and abuse in the NY/NJ HIDTA region varied by type in 2009.

• (U) Cocaine availability has largely returned to normal levels after reported cocaine shortages that began in 2006. Treatment admission data indicate that although cocaine abuse is high in the NY/NJ HIDTA region, the total number of cocaine-related admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities in New York and New Jersey has declined steadily since cocaine shortages were first reported.
   
• (U) Heroin availability is high and increasing as indicated by high purities, low prices, and increased milling operations in the HIDTA region. Heroin sold in New York City and Newark is among the highest purity and lowest priced heroin in the country. On Long Island, significant increases in heroin availability have led to a rise in heroin abuse, particularly among young people, and a corresponding rise in heroin overdoses and overdose deaths. In New Jersey, rising heroin demand has caused New York City-based DTOs to branch out to northern New Jersey, increasing heroin availability there.
   
• (U) CPDs--particularly opioid pain medications--are widely abused throughout the region and contribute to more overdose deaths than any other drug in some areas.
   
• (LES) Law enforcement estimates suggest that up to 13 metric tons of high-potency marijuana are smuggled into the NY/NJ HIDTA region through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation each week. As such, the availability of Canadian high-potency marijuana has increased in the region, surpassing that of Mexican marijuana in some markets, such as Albany and Syracuse in New York and parts of New Jersey.
   
• (LES) MDMA availability is increasing in New York City as Dominican DTOs increase their involvement in MDMA distribution. Dealers are attracted to the expanding customer base, high profit margins, and lack of violence typically associated with the MDMA market. Multithousand-tablet quantities of MDMA are supplied by Asian producers in Canada to Native American DTOs that smuggle the drug through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

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