Heroin

Heroin availability and abuse are a minimal problem in the state. Virtually all heroin users are are concentrated in the urban areas of South Carolina. Most heroin users are African Americans or Caucasians. The number of young Caucasian users is increasing.   

Abuse

Caucasian and African American males are the primary abusers of heroin in South Carolina, a state where the heroin abuse rate is much lower than the national average. According to the DAODAS, the number of heroin admissions to publicly funded treatment centers increased from 353 in FY1998 to 445 in FY2000. The number of both adult and juvenile arrests for the simple possession of heroin remained stable with 116 in 1996 and only 134 in 1999. Arrest statistics for simple possession support assertions by law enforcement that Caucasian and African American males are the primary heroin abusers. Among adults, African American males were just as likely to be arrested for heroin possession as Caucasian males, but Caucasian females were seven times more likely to be arrested for heroin possession than African American females. Arrest and treatment statistics reflect the low levels of heroin abuse in the state. According to the SLED, less than 1 percent (129) of all adult drug-related arrests for simple possession (18,481) were for heroin. TEDS admissions statistics for 1998, based on heroin as the primary drug of abuse, indicated 7 admissions to publicly funded treatment centers per 100,000, significantly lower than the national rate of 89 admissions per 100,000. During the late 1990s, treatment admissions for heroin increased while heroin arrests remained stable.

The only publicly funded methadone clinic operating in South Carolina and the only one reporting admissions to DAODAS and TEDS is located in Charleston, although four private clinics operate in Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia. The heroin abuser population in South Carolina--concentrated in the Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia areas--uses different methods to administer the drug. Most heroin abusers in the state inject the drug, but some also snort heroin or use it in combination with other drugs. Some heroin abusers use a combination of heroin and cocaine, known as a speedball.

South Carolina's juveniles are more likely to abuse heroin than are juveniles nationwide; however, they abuse heroin less frequently than any other major illicit drug in the state. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 1999 survey indicates that 3.4 percent of high school students have used heroin at least once in their lifetime, higher than the national heroin abuse rate of 2.4 percent. More male high school students (4.7%) have abused heroin during their lifetime than have female high school students (2.0%) in South Carolina. The SLED indicates that there were only five juveniles arrested for the simple possession of heroin in South Carolina in 1999, fewer than the number arrested for marijuana, crack cocaine, or powdered cocaine. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 1999 survey indicates high school students in South Carolina reported lower rates of lifetime abuse of heroin than of marijuana, inhalants, methamphetamine, and cocaine.

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Availability

Small quantities of all types of heroin are available, primarily in Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville. The most common types are South American, Southeast Asian, and Southwest Asian white powdered heroin. White heroin refers to any heroin that is white, off-white, or tan in color. South American (primarily Colombian) heroin has captured a large share of the U.S. heroin market, and anecdotal law enforcement reporting indicates it may be gaining a share of the market in South Carolina. Due to the lack of signature identification of heroin in the state, it is not determined which source area--South America, Southeast Asia, or Southwest Asia--is the most common. Mexican brown powdered and black tar heroin are available in very limited quantities.

The price of heroin in South Carolina varies depending on the city where it was purchased and the purity of the drug. In South Carolina during 2000, the average price of a gram of white heroin was $300, and an ounce sold between $3,500 and $4,500. (See Table 7 for DEA prices in selected cities.) The introduction of high-purity heroin in South Carolina has resulted in an increase in heroin overdoses. The average purity of the 48 exhibits of heroin tested by the DEA in 2000 was 56 percent. During 1999 and 2000, higher purity heroin--as high as 90 percent--was distributed in Columbia, Greenville, and Charleston, causing overdoses among users accustomed to lower purity levels. Toxicology tests indicated that some overdose victims in Charleston also consumed MDMA.

Table 7. Heroin Prices in South Carolina Cities, 2000

Source: DEA.

Law enforcement seizures of heroin are minimal. The FDSS indicates that law enforcement in South Carolina seized 2.2 kilograms of heroin during 1998, but no heroin in 1999. The SLED seized only 7 grams of heroin in 1999, less than in 1998 (9 grams) and in 1997 (20 grams). The EPIC Pipeline Convoy database reported 1,135 grams of heroin seized in South Carolina in 1998, but no seizures during the first three quarters of 1999.

Table 8. Heroin Seizures in South Carolina, 1997-1999

Sources: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED); EPIC Pipeline Convoy and Jetway databases; and Federal-wide Drug Seizure Statistics (FDSS).
Note: SLED and FDSS data are based on fiscal year. Pipeline and Jetway database information is based on calendar year, with 1999 data from the first three quarters only. An increase in seizures does not necessarily indicate an increase in availability.

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Violence

Reports of heroin-related violence are minimal, and are not as prevalent as those associated with powdered and crack cocaine. Local law enforcement agencies indicate that African American street gangs are involved in heroin distribution. In North Charleston, the Ashley Shores Crew, Charlie Town Clique, Port City Posse, and South Side Piru Bloods are responsible for assaults, carjackings, drive-by shootings, home invasions, weapons distribution, and homicides. Due to the limited market for heroin in South Carolina, turf wars are not an issue.

Production

Opium is neither cultivated nor processed into heroin in South Carolina. Heroin is smuggled into the United States from four primary source areas: South America, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Southwest Asia. Until the early 1990s, Mexico and Southeast Asia were the primary source areas for heroin in the United States. Heroin was also smuggled from Southwest Asia but to a lesser extent. Since the early 1990s, South American heroin has captured a substantial share of the domestic heroin market. Heroin from all source areas is available in South Carolina.

Transportation

Heroin from various source areas is transported into South Carolina after being smuggled into U.S. locations in the Southeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic. Most heroin is seized from criminal groups transporting it into the southern United States primarily via commercial airlines from cities in South and Central America. Couriers, both swallowers and bodycarriers, enter through distribution centers such as Miami, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. Criminal groups in other distribution centers such as Chicago, Detroit, and New York also provide heroin to South Carolina.

Heroin is also transported to South Carolina via private and leased vehicles; commercial air, bus, and rail lines; and parcel delivery services. Distributors generally use the I-95 corridor as a transportation route from New York City to South Carolina. In 1999, South Carolina law enforcement conducted two heroin seizures from commercial train passengers transporting 5 grams and 56 grams of heroin from New York City to Columbia.

Dominican criminal groups and African American local independent dealers and gangs are the primary transporters of heroin in the state, but Nigerian and Mexican criminal groups also transport heroin. Dominican criminal groups typically transport heroin from New York to the South Carolina coast. African American local independent dealers travel out of state, often to Atlanta and Charlotte, to purchase heroin and bring it back to South Carolina for retail distribution. Nigerian criminal groups operating in Greenville have transported Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin into South Carolina, as in a recent case, when they used a shoe export company as a cover. Mexican criminal groups also transport Mexican brown powdered and black tar heroin to South Carolina.

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Distribution

Dominican criminal groups and local African American dealers and street gangs transport South American, Southeast Asian, and Southwest Asian white powdered heroin into Charleston and distribute the drug. Mexican criminal groups transport Mexican brown powdered and Mexican black tar heroin.

Dominican criminal groups transport heroin into Charleston from New York for distribution. Information from the Southeast Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and DEA Columbia Resident Office indicate Dominican criminal groups based in the northeastern part of the United States dominate South American heroin distribution in the Carolinas. In addition, local distributors travel outside the state to obtain heroin and transport it back to South Carolina.

African American street gangs and local independent dealers also distribute heroin in South Carolina. They travel to distribution centers in neighboring states and transport the drug back to Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia, where they distribute heroin. To a lesser extent, Mexican criminals distribute Mexican brown powdered and black tar heroin. In 2000, Mexican black tar heroin was observed in the state for the first time when a Mexican national distributed the drug, along with marijuana and cocaine, in the Charleston and Hilton Head areas.

According to DEA Charleston, Dominican dealers from New York transport heroin to Charleston, where they rent hotel rooms, dilute the heroin with cutting agents such as caffeine, then package the heroin in bags for retail distribution. Heroin packaging varies by geographic region. Most of the heroin obtained in the Eastside of Charleston is double-bagged, but heroin in the Westside usually is sold in yellow bags or glassine envelopes. Both types of packaging frequently have pictures of cartoon characters or smiley faces and logos such as "New Jack City," "Getting Stronger," and "Paid." The bags are packaged in "bundles" of 10 to 12. (See Heroin Brands text box.)

African American street gangs and local independent dealers are the primary retail heroin distributors, and retail distribution is concentrated predominately in isolated sections of the larger cities of Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville. Retail distributors obtain heroin through pre-arranged deliveries at parking lots, motels, or houses, where drugs and money are exchanged. Most retail distribution occurs in houses or in open-air markets, which typically comprise a several-block section in the city or bordering city lines. Most users drive to the open-air markets. If a user circles a block more than once, a dealer will approach the vehicle to conduct the sale.

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