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Drug Trafficking in the United States
Drug Trafficking in the United States
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]MARIJUANA[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Marijuana is the most widely abused and readily available illicit drug in the United States, with an estimated 11.5 million current users. At least one-third of the U.S. population has used marijuana sometime in their lives. The drug is considered a "gateway" to the world of illicit drug abuse. Relaxed public perception of harm, popularization by the media and by groups advocating legalization, along with the trend of smoking marijuana-filled cigars known as "blunts," contribute to the nationwide resurgence in marijuana's popularity.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The Internet also contributes to marijuana's popularity. Websites exist that provide information and links extolling the virtues of marijuana. These sites provide forums for user group discussions, post documents and messages for public discussions, and advocate the "legal" sale of marijuana. Several web sites advertising the sale of marijuana and providing instructions on home grows have also been identified.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Marijuana smuggled into the United States, whether grown in Mexico or transshipped from other Latin American source areas, accounts for most of the marijuana available in the United States. Marijuana produced in Mexico remains the most widely available. Moreover, high-potency marijuana enters the U.S. drug market from Canada. The availability of marijuana from Southeast Asia generally is limited to the West Coast. U.S. drug law enforcement reporting also suggests increased availability of domestically grown marijuana.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Domestic Marijuana[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]According to 2000 Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) statistics, the five leading states for indoor growing activity were California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. DCE/SP statistics indicate that the major outdoor growing states in 2000 were California, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Tennessee; these states accounted for approximately three-quarters of the total of eradicated outdoor cultivated plants.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Mexican Marijuana[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Organized crime groups operating from Mexico have smuggled marijuana into the United States since the early 1970s. These groups maintain extensive networks of associates, often related through familial or regional ties to associates living in the United States, where they control polydrug smuggling and wholesale distribution from hub cities to retail markets throughout the United States.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Groups operating from Mexico employ a variety of transportation and concealment methods to smuggle marijuana into the United States. Most of the marijuana smuggled into the United States is concealed in vehicles - often in false compartments - or hidden in shipments of legitimate agricultural or industrial products. Marijuana also is smuggled across the border by rail, horse, raft, and backpack. Shipments of 20 kilograms or less are smuggled by pedestrians who enter the United States at border checkpoints and by backpackers who, alone or in groups ("mule trains"), cross the border at more remote locations. Jamaican organizations also appear to be involved in dispatching Mexican marijuana via parcel carriers.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Organized crime groups operating from Mexico conceal marijuana in an array of vehicles, including commercial vehicles, private automobiles, pickup trucks, vans, mobile homes, and horse trailers, driven through border ports of entry. Larger shipments ranging up to multithousand kilograms are usually smuggled in tractor-trailers, such as the 6.9 metric tons of marijuana seized on April 3, 2001, by USCS officials from a tractor-trailer at the Otay Mesa, California, port of entry. The marijuana packages had been wrapped in cellophane, coated with mustard, grease, and motor oil, and commingled in a load of television sets.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Besides overland smuggling, drug traffickers use ocean vessels to move Mexican marijuana up the coast of Mexico to U.S. ports, drop-off sites along the U.S. coast, or to rendezvous points with other boats bound for the United States. Law enforcement authorities in southern California indicate that marijuana is transferred from mother ships in international waters to Mexican fishing vessels. The smaller vessels then deliver the marijuana to overland smugglers on the Mexican Baja California Peninsula. From there, the marijuana is generally moved to border transit points and then carried to the Los Angeles metropolitan area for distribution to eastern markets.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Canadian Marijuana[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Canada is becoming a source country for indoor-grown, high-potency (15 to 25 percent THC) marijuana destined for the United States. Canadian law enforcement intelligence indicates that marijuana traffickers there are increasingly cultivating cannabis indoors. Such indoor-grow operations have become an enormous and lucrative illicit industry, producing a potent form of marijuana that has come to be known as "BC Bud." Canadian officials estimate that cannabis cultivation in British Columbia is a billion-dollar industry, and that traffickers smuggle a significant portion of the Canadian harvest into the United States.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Prices and Potency (THC Content)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Prices for commercial-grade marijuana have remained relatively stable over the past decade, ranging from approximately $400 to $1,000 per pound in U.S. Southwest border areas to between $700 to $2000 per pound in the Midwest and northeastern United States. The national price range for sinsemilla, a higher quality marijuana usually grown domestically, is between $900 and $6,000 per pound. BC Bud sells for between $1,500 and $2,000 per pound in Vancouver; but when smuggled into the United States, it sells for between $5,000 and $8,000 per pound in major metropolitan areas.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]During the past two decades, marijuana potency has increased. According to the University of Mississippi's 2000 Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project (MPMP), commercial-grade marijuana THC levels rose from under 2 percent in the late 1970s and early 1980s to 6.07 percent in 2000. The MPMP reports that sinsemilla potency also increased, rising from 6 percent in the late 1970s and 1980s to 13.20 percent in 2000.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Seizures[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]According to the FDSS, U.S. federal authorities seized 1,211 metric tons of marijuana in 2001 compared to 1,236 metric tons in 2000.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Marijuana is the most widely abused and readily available illicit drug in the United States, with an estimated 11.5 million current users. At least one-third of the U.S. population has used marijuana sometime in their lives. The drug is considered a "gateway" to the world of illicit drug abuse. Relaxed public perception of harm, popularization by the media and by groups advocating legalization, along with the trend of smoking marijuana-filled cigars known as "blunts," contribute to the nationwide resurgence in marijuana's popularity.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The Internet also contributes to marijuana's popularity. Websites exist that provide information and links extolling the virtues of marijuana. These sites provide forums for user group discussions, post documents and messages for public discussions, and advocate the "legal" sale of marijuana. Several web sites advertising the sale of marijuana and providing instructions on home grows have also been identified.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Marijuana smuggled into the United States, whether grown in Mexico or transshipped from other Latin American source areas, accounts for most of the marijuana available in the United States. Marijuana produced in Mexico remains the most widely available. Moreover, high-potency marijuana enters the U.S. drug market from Canada. The availability of marijuana from Southeast Asia generally is limited to the West Coast. U.S. drug law enforcement reporting also suggests increased availability of domestically grown marijuana.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Domestic Marijuana[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]According to 2000 Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) statistics, the five leading states for indoor growing activity were California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. DCE/SP statistics indicate that the major outdoor growing states in 2000 were California, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Tennessee; these states accounted for approximately three-quarters of the total of eradicated outdoor cultivated plants.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Mexican Marijuana[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Organized crime groups operating from Mexico have smuggled marijuana into the United States since the early 1970s. These groups maintain extensive networks of associates, often related through familial or regional ties to associates living in the United States, where they control polydrug smuggling and wholesale distribution from hub cities to retail markets throughout the United States.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Groups operating from Mexico employ a variety of transportation and concealment methods to smuggle marijuana into the United States. Most of the marijuana smuggled into the United States is concealed in vehicles - often in false compartments - or hidden in shipments of legitimate agricultural or industrial products. Marijuana also is smuggled across the border by rail, horse, raft, and backpack. Shipments of 20 kilograms or less are smuggled by pedestrians who enter the United States at border checkpoints and by backpackers who, alone or in groups ("mule trains"), cross the border at more remote locations. Jamaican organizations also appear to be involved in dispatching Mexican marijuana via parcel carriers.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Organized crime groups operating from Mexico conceal marijuana in an array of vehicles, including commercial vehicles, private automobiles, pickup trucks, vans, mobile homes, and horse trailers, driven through border ports of entry. Larger shipments ranging up to multithousand kilograms are usually smuggled in tractor-trailers, such as the 6.9 metric tons of marijuana seized on April 3, 2001, by USCS officials from a tractor-trailer at the Otay Mesa, California, port of entry. The marijuana packages had been wrapped in cellophane, coated with mustard, grease, and motor oil, and commingled in a load of television sets.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Besides overland smuggling, drug traffickers use ocean vessels to move Mexican marijuana up the coast of Mexico to U.S. ports, drop-off sites along the U.S. coast, or to rendezvous points with other boats bound for the United States. Law enforcement authorities in southern California indicate that marijuana is transferred from mother ships in international waters to Mexican fishing vessels. The smaller vessels then deliver the marijuana to overland smugglers on the Mexican Baja California Peninsula. From there, the marijuana is generally moved to border transit points and then carried to the Los Angeles metropolitan area for distribution to eastern markets.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Canadian Marijuana[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Canada is becoming a source country for indoor-grown, high-potency (15 to 25 percent THC) marijuana destined for the United States. Canadian law enforcement intelligence indicates that marijuana traffickers there are increasingly cultivating cannabis indoors. Such indoor-grow operations have become an enormous and lucrative illicit industry, producing a potent form of marijuana that has come to be known as "BC Bud." Canadian officials estimate that cannabis cultivation in British Columbia is a billion-dollar industry, and that traffickers smuggle a significant portion of the Canadian harvest into the United States.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Prices and Potency (THC Content)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Prices for commercial-grade marijuana have remained relatively stable over the past decade, ranging from approximately $400 to $1,000 per pound in U.S. Southwest border areas to between $700 to $2000 per pound in the Midwest and northeastern United States. The national price range for sinsemilla, a higher quality marijuana usually grown domestically, is between $900 and $6,000 per pound. BC Bud sells for between $1,500 and $2,000 per pound in Vancouver; but when smuggled into the United States, it sells for between $5,000 and $8,000 per pound in major metropolitan areas.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]During the past two decades, marijuana potency has increased. According to the University of Mississippi's 2000 Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project (MPMP), commercial-grade marijuana THC levels rose from under 2 percent in the late 1970s and early 1980s to 6.07 percent in 2000. The MPMP reports that sinsemilla potency also increased, rising from 6 percent in the late 1970s and 1980s to 13.20 percent in 2000.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Seizures[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]According to the FDSS, U.S. federal authorities seized 1,211 metric tons of marijuana in 2001 compared to 1,236 metric tons in 2000.[/SIZE][/FONT]
