U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center

Title:

Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2010

Publication Date: June 2010

Document ID: 2010-R0813-029

Archived on: September 1, 2011. This document may contain dated information. It remains available to provide access to historical materials.

This assessment is an outgrowth of a partnership between the NDIC and HIDTA Program for preparation of annual assessments depicting drug trafficking trends and developments in HIDTA Program areas. The report has been coordinated with the HIDTA, is limited in scope to HIDTA jurisdictional boundaries, and draws upon a wide variety of sources within those boundaries.

Your questions, comments, and suggestions for future subjects are welcome at any time. Addresses are provided at the end of the page.

Contents

List of Figures

Figure 1. Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
Figure 2. Outdoor Cannabis Cultivation in National Forests in the Rocky Mountain HIDTA

List of Tables

Table 1. Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures, Rocky Mountain HIDTA Counties, 2005-2009
Table 2. Rocky Mountain HIDTA Highway Interdiction Seizures, 2009
Table 3. Drug-Related Treatment Admissions to Publicly Funded Facilities in Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, 2008

List of Tables in Appendix A

Table A1. Greatest Drug Threat to the Rocky Mountain HIDTA Region as Reported by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, by Number of Respondents
Table A2. International, Multistate, and Local Drug Trafficking Organizations Targeted, Disrupted, and Dismantled Through Rocky Mountain HIDTA Initiatives, 2005-2009
Table A3. Number of CPOT, RPOT, and OCDETF Investigations Conducted Within the Rocky Mountain HIDTA Region, 2005-2009

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

The distribution and abuse of Mexican methamphetamine pose the most significant overall drug threat to the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region. Secondary drug threats vary throughout the region. For example, cocaine distribution and abuse are most prominent in Colorado, particularly in the Denver area, whereas controlled prescription drugs (CPDs), while widely available throughout the region, pose a greater threat to the Salt Lake City, Utah, area. Heroin abuse in the region is increasing as teens and young adults switch from CPDs to Mexican black tar heroin.

Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) are the principal suppliers of wholesale quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and black tar heroin to the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region from locations along the Southwest Border, while West Coast Asian DTOs supply high-potency marijuana and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) to the region from sources in Canada.

The following are significant strategic drug threat developments in the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region:

• Mexican ice methamphetamine trafficking and abuse are increasing, while domestic methamphetamine production is declining throughout the HIDTA region. Mexican DTOs are capitalizing on declining local methamphetamine production by providing a continuous supply of low-cost, high-purity Mexican methamphetamine. Ice methamphetamine availability is expected to remain at the high levels required to support market demand and mitigate the need for local production of the drug.
   
• Mexican DTOs are expanding their outdoor cannabis cultivation operations on public lands in the HIDTA region, primarily in Utah and Colorado. In doing so, these DTOs are eliminating transportation costs and reducing the risk of seizure that is inherent in shipping marijuana from Mexico into the United States. Law enforcement eradicated 119,521 plants from national forests in 2009, compared with 44,668 plants in 2008--a 168 percent increase.
   
• Cocaine availability increased in many areas of the HIDTA region in 2009, eliminating the shortages experienced in 2008. Wholesale cocaine availability increased in Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, and Longmont, Colorado. The increased availability of cocaine is expected to continue in the short term.
   
• CPD abuse is a significant problem in Utah, particularly in Salt Lake City, which has one of the highest prescription drug abuse rates in the nation.
   
• The demand for Mexican black tar heroin has risen since 2008, primarily among teens and young adults who are transitioning from prescription drugs to black tar heroin because of lower costs and greater accessibility.

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Addresses

Web Addresses

ADNET:  http://ndicosa.adnet.sgov.gov
DOJ:  http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/
LEO:  https://www.leo.gov/http/leowcs.leopriv.gov/lesig/archive/ndic/index.htm
RISS:  ndic.riss.net

Questions and comments may be directed to Pacific/West Central Unit, Regional Threat Analysis Branch through NDIC.Contacts@usdoj.gov.

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