Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine poses a low but increasing threat to Virginia. Levels of availability and abuse have increased in the Shenandoah Valley, and the drug is an emerging threat to southwestern Virginia. Most of the methamphetamine available in Virginia is produced by Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and criminal groups using the hydriodic acid/red phosphorus method in high volume laboratories in Mexico and California. However, Virginia-based Caucasian criminal groups, OMGs, and local independent Caucasian dealers sometimes produce methamphetamine using the phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) and Birch reduction methods. Mexican criminal groups are the primary transporters of most of the methamphetamine available in Virginia. These groups usually transport the drug from Mexico and southwestern states into Virginia using private automobiles, couriers aboard commercial airlines, and package delivery and express mail services. Mexican criminal groups, some based in Virginia, are the primary wholesale distributors of methamphetamine in the state, particularly in the Shenandoah Valley. Mexican criminal groups and Caucasian local independent dealers are the principal retail distributors of methamphetamine produced in Mexico and southwestern states. OMGs, Caucasian criminal groups, and local independent dealers distribute methamphetamine produced in Virginia and other states at the retail level.

Figure 5. Shenandoah Valley.

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Abuse

The level of methamphetamine abuse is low in Virginia. The number of treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities for methamphetamine abuse in Virginia fluctuated from 1995 to 2000. According to state substance abuse data, treatment admissions for methamphetamine abuse increased overall from 105 in 1995 to 192 in 1999. (See Table 1 in Overview section.)

Methamphetamine is abused at different rates throughout the state. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Culpeper, near the Shenandoah Valley, report that methamphetamine is commonly abused in their jurisdiction. Law enforcement officials in Arlington, Bluefield, Lynchburg, Salem, Virginia Beach, Wytheville, and Warren and Chesterfield Counties report that methamphetamine is sometimes abused in those areas.

A more diverse population in Virginia now abuses methamphetamine. Historically, OMGs and blue-collar workers such as truck drivers were the predominant methamphetamine abusers. A new abuser population emerged in 2000 that includes white-collar professionals, business owners, and some members of the lower class. Teenagers and young adults, primarily in Northern Virginia, also are abusing methamphetamine, particularly crystal methamphetamine--a colorless, odorless form of smokable d-methamphetamine resembling glass fragments or ice shavings--in combination with other drugs at raves or nightclubs.

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Availability

Methamphetamine is increasingly available in Virginia, particularly in the Shenandoah Valley. Most of the methamphetamine available in Virginia is produced by Mexican DTOs and criminal groups using the hydriodic acid/red phosphorus method in high volume laboratories in Mexico and California. The DEA Washington Division reports multipound quantities of Mexican methamphetamine are available in southwestern Virginia. According to FDSS data, federal law enforcement officials seized 3.9 kilograms of methamphetamine in Virginia in FY1998, 12.3 kilograms in FY1999, and 7.4 kilograms in FY2000. From October 1998 to May 2001, 6 of the 107 OCDETF investigations initiated in Virginia were methamphetamine-related.

Most methamphetamine seizures occur in the Shenandoah Valley. Ninety-six percent of all methamphetamine seized by state and local law enforcement officials in Virginia in 1999 was confiscated in the Shenandoah Valley. In June 2001 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials in Woodstock arrested an individual and seized over 2 kilograms of methamphetamine, and, in a related incident, arrested an individual in Toms Brook and seized 1 kilogram of the drug. In September 2000 federal agents arrested two individuals in New Market (northwestern Virginia) in the Shenandoah Valley and seized over 4 kilograms of methamphetamine, the largest such seizure in the state's history. The Rockingham/Shenandoah/Harrisonburg regional drug task force seized approximately 10 kilograms of methamphetamine in 1999.

The percentage of methamphetamine-related federal sentences in Virginia is lower than the national percentage. According to U.S. Sentencing Commission data, less than 10 percent of drug-related federal sentences in Virginia in FY2000 were methamphetamine-related compared with 14.5 percent nationwide. The number of methamphetamine-related federal sentences in Virginia was 5 in FY1996, 24 in FY1997, 57 in FY1998, 47 in FY1999, and 78 in FY2000.

Wholesale prices of methamphetamine vary throughout Virginia, while prices at the retail level are fairly uniform. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, methamphetamine sold for $8,000 per pound in Culpeper and Lynchburg, $11,000 per pound in Roanoke, $15,000 per pound in Virginia Beach, $16,000 per pound in Wytheville, and $19,000 per pound in Salem. Retail quantities of methamphetamine sold for approximately $100 per gram in 2001. The purity of methamphetamine at both the wholesale and retail levels ranged from 60 to 90 percent.

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Violence

The potential for violence associated with methamphetamine distribution and abuse is significant. Individuals addicted to methamphetamine are unpredictable, experience feelings of fright and confusion, and will commit violent crimes to obtain the drug. Methamphetamine abusers are often paranoid and delusional and frequently arm themselves against perceived threats. Methamphetamine distributors sometimes commit violent crimes to protect their turf. In response to the NDIC National Gang Survey 2000, the Bristol Police Department reported that the South Side Bloods, a local street gang, distributes methamphetamine and has committed violent crimes such as assaults and home invasions in their area.

Production

Most of the methamphetamine available in Virginia is produced by Mexican DTOs and criminal groups using the hydriodic acid/red phosphorus reduction method in high volume laboratories in Mexico and California. However, Virginia-based Caucasian criminal groups, OMGs, and local independent Caucasian dealers sometimes produce methamphetamine using the phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) and Birch reduction methods. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Chesapeake, Richmond, Roanoke, and Salem reported that Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers produce 1 to 2 ounces of methamphetamine per cook locally using the P2P and Birch reduction methods. During the first quarter of 2000, Roanoke and Floyd County (southwestern Virginia) law enforcement officers seized a small amount of methamphetamine and an operational methamphetamine laboratory and arrested the laboratory operator. In January 1999 the Richmond Police arrested an individual and seized what was described as a portable methamphetamine laboratory in his car.

Methamphetamine production poses serious safety and environmental concerns. The production process creates toxic and hazardous waste that endangers law enforcement personnel, emergency response teams, children (particularly those in the homes of methamphetamine producers), and the environment. Methamphetamine laboratories may contain a variety of highly flammable chemicals and produce 5 to 6 pounds of toxic waste for every pound of methamphetamine. Most of the toxic residue from methamphetamine production is dumped in the local area, contaminating groundwater and killing vegetation.

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Transportation

Mexican criminal groups are the primary transporters of most of the methamphetamine available in Virginia. These groups transport the drug from Mexico and California into Virginia using private automobiles, couriers aboard commercial airlines, and package delivery and express mail services. During the first quarter of 2001, law enforcement officials in Virginia Beach under Operation Jetway arrested two individuals and seized 1 kilogram of methamphetamine in a parcel shipped from Redlands, California, to Virginia Beach. The methamphetamine was wrapped in plastic and concealed inside a plastic container. OMGs and local independent Caucasian dealers transport smaller amounts of methamphetamine into the state from California, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

Precursor chemicals sometimes are transported to the state as well. During the second quarter of 2000, USCS officials at Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia seized small shipments of methamphetamine precursor chemicals, including ephedrine and pseudoephedrine tablets that were sent through air mail parcels. Some shipments originated in Canada and England and were addressed to Virginia residents.

Distribution

Mexican criminal groups, some based in Virginia, are the primary wholesale distributors of methamphetamine (pound quantities) in the state, particularly in the Shenandoah Valley. This region has a large Mexican population employed as transient agricultural workers enabling Mexican distributors to blend easily among the region's numerous poultry, cattle farm, and orchard workers. Mexican criminal groups and Caucasian local independent dealers are the principal retail distributors of methamphetamine produced in Mexico and California. OMGs, Caucasian criminal groups, and local independent dealers distribute methamphetamine produced in Virginia at the retail level. For example, 28 members of the Renegades Motorcycle Club were convicted of distributing methamphetamine in the Tidewater area in November 1999. The members allegedly distributed over 100 kilograms of methamphetamine over several years and sent approximately $4 million in proceeds to California.

OMGs are less organized and distribute methamphetamine less frequently than they used to in Virginia, primarily because law enforcement officials have dismantled most of the established Pagans OMG chapters in northern, central, and southeastern Virginia. The DEA Washington Division reports that former Pagans OMG affiliates in the Shenandoah Valley maintain ties with Pagans OMG members in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey from whom they purchase retail quantities of methamphetamine to distribute in Virginia.

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