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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
South Florida HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
May 2010
Colombian and Mexican DTOs supply most of the available illicit drugs in the South Florida HIDTA region to African American, Caucasian, Cuban, Dominican, Haitian, Hispanic, Jamaican, and Puerto Rican distributors, and to street gang members. Midlevel and retail-level drug distribution typically occurs at open-air drug markets; in clubs, apartment buildings, motels, and vehicles; on beaches; and at prearranged meeting sites such as parking lots.
An estimated 371 street gangs, primarily locally based gangs such as 22 Avenue Boys, Dog Pound Gangsters, and Graveyard Boyz with more than 15,000 members and associates, operated in the South Florida HIDTA region in 2009. Locally based gangs are loosely structured and profit-driven. Most of their profits are made through the distribution of illicit drugs. Other criminal gang activities used to raise funds include home invasions, robbery, and auto theft. Many of these gangs are composed of individuals of various ethnicities, although more traditional, ethnic-based gangs are also present, particularly in Haitian and Jamaican communities. Some national-level street gang members, such as the Latin Kings, also operate in Miami-Dade County, according to the Regional Organized Crime Information Center.
The South Florida HIDTA region is a significant source area for CPDs, particularly opioid pain relievers, diverted for distribution throughout a large portion of the eastern United States, mainly supplied from the growing number of pain management clinics in the region.g A Florida grand jury found that from 2007 through 2009, the number of pain management clinics in Broward and Palm Beach Counties increased dramatically from 4 to 155. In one 6-month period, doctors at these pain clinics dispensed more than 9 million tablets of oxycodone. The grand jury found that the Broward and Palm Beach County clinics attract drug seekers from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
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Large Quantity of Roxicodone Seized In November 2009, the DEA MFD and the South Florida HIDTA Southeast Florida Regional Task Force received information that an individual from New Jersey traveled to South Florida to obtain a large quantity of CPDs from a local pain management clinic. Law enforcement officers made contact with the individual and found five Ziploc™ bags that contained approximately 10,000 dosage units of Roxicodone. The individual planned to sell most of the Roxicodone in New Jersey. |
Most of the drug-related violent crime in the South Florida HIDTA region is committed by street gang members to protect their distribution operations. Law enforcement officials in the region report that high levels of violence by street gang members over the past several years led to increased law enforcement action against the gangs, some of which were dismantled. For example, in April 2009, federal and local law enforcement officers dismantled the 68th Street gang, a Miami-based street gang that was responsible for distributing multikilograms of cocaine and committing at least 23 homicides in South Florida since at least 2006. Some street gang members have realized that law enforcement agencies focus on the most violent street gangs, causing many to lower their level of violence to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. Drug-related property crime in the region is typically committed by abusers seeking funds to sustain their addictions.
g. In July 2009, Florida enacted a law establishing a prescription drug monitoring program. The law requires that pain management clinics register with the Department of Health and that state medical and osteopathic medicine boards set standards of practice for all physicians and osteopaths who prescribe controlled substances from those clinics.
UNCLASSIFIED
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