Appendix C. OCDETF Regional Summaries

New England Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The New England Region (NER) encompasses the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. There is one HIDTA within the region--the New England HIDTA--as well as six U.S. Attorney Districts, one for each state. Most of the illicit drugs available in the NER are transported from the Southwest Border; however, geographically, the NER shoreline and international border with Canada are often exploited by traffickers to smuggle drugs into the region. Additionally, various criminal groups--primarily highly mobile members of street gangs from southern New England and New York City--increasingly are expanding their drug distribution operations into smaller and more rural communities throughout New England.

Drug Threat Overview

The availability and abuse of opiates, particularly heroin but also diverted pharmaceuticals such as oxycodones (OxyContin, Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), pose the most significant drug threats to the NER. The region has a large number of opiate addicts who are supplied by a well-established network of heroin and pharmaceutical distributors. Cocaine, particularly crack, is the drug of choice in some areas of the region, including the inner-city neighborhoods of Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven (CT), Boston (MA), and Providence (RI). Crack availability has expanded in northern New England, largely because African American and Hispanic criminal groups and street gangs from southern New England have increased distribution operations in the area. Marijuana is widely abused, with high quality, high-priced hydroponic marijuana from Canada and cheaper commercial-grade marijuana from Mexico both readily available in the region. Methamphetamine production and abuse, which were previously concentrated within the gay male community, are increasing among the general population in eastern parts of the NER; however, the threat posed by methamphetamine remains relatively low. The abuse of club drugs such as MDMA, GHB, and ketamine has slightly decreased in recent years, although these drugs remain popular among young adults and teenagers in some areas of the region.

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Strategic Regional Developments

• Heroin and diverted opiate pharmaceutical abuse is the greatest drug threat to the NER because of widespread abuse and associated social consequences. Diverted opiate pharmaceutical abuse is spreading among the general population and has fueled increasing heroin abuse in New England, since pharmaceutical abusers often switch to heroin.

• Methadone, an opiate used to treat heroin abuse and chronic pain, has become the leading drug involved in overdose deaths in Maine and New Hampshire. Oxycodone abusers, who are having difficulty obtaining the drug, are using methadone, attempting to achieve an oxycodone-type high. This effect is unattainable from methadone, and the abusers are sometimes overdosing because the drugs have different onset and duration periods.

• Crack cocaine distribution is increasing in northern New England¹⁹ as street gangs from southern New England²⁰ travel north in an attempt to expand their distribution networks. These gang members often acquire handguns while in northern New England and transport them south, fueling violent crime in the southern part of the region.

• A rising number of polydrug criminal groups and street gangs are operating from the Lowell and Lawrence (MA) area, the primary New England distribution hub, influencing drug activity throughout much of the region.

• Methamphetamine is an emerging, but low, drug threat to New England. Clandestine laboratory seizures have occurred in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Methamphetamine abuse, previously concentrated among members of the gay male communities in Boston and Cape Cod, is now gradually spreading to the general population. Mexican DTOs and Canada-based Asian traffickers, who have ready access to large supplies of methamphetamine, are poised to meet any future increases in demand.

• Canada-based Asian DTOs and OMGs increasingly are smuggling Canada-produced hydroponic marijuana and MDMA, as well as diverted prescription drugs into New England for distribution; they are transporting millions of dollars generated from the sale of these drugs in the United States back to Canada.

Variations From National Trends

• Heroin poses the primary drug threat to New England--the only region of the country where this drug is the leading problem. The heroin problem in the NER is driven in part by pharmaceutical opiate abuse; pharmaceutical opiate abusers often switch to heroin because of the drug's lower cost and higher purity.

• Some opiate abusers in the NER who are undergoing methadone treatment are using cocaine to satisfy drug cravings. Since opiates and stimulants affect different parts of the brain, patients on methadone can still achieve a high by using cocaine.

• Methadone abuse is increasing in the NER; in 2005 the drug emerged as the leading cause of drug-related deaths in Maine and New Hampshire. Some doctors are becoming reluctant to prescribe an oxycodone such as OxyContin because of the drug's high abuse potential; they are now prescribing methadone for pain. Consequently, abusers seeking an oxycodone-type high that is unattainable from methadone are sometimes using excessive amounts of methadone and overdosing.

• The threat posed to the NER by methamphetamine, while increasing, is low--the region is one of the few areas in the country where the methamphetamine threat is not significant. Unlike in the rest of the country, methamphetamine is infrequently produced in the NER. Most of the methamphetamine available in the region is transported by traffickers via mail from California and southwestern states as well as Colorado and Oregon. Further, ice methamphetamine is rarely encountered in the NER.

• Significant quantities of high potency marijuana are smuggled to and through the NER from Canada. Asian DTOs, OMGs, Native North Americans, and Caucasian traffickers, and traditional organized crime (TOC) groups have expanded their marijuana production capabilities to Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, where multithousand-plant grows are now often encountered and tens of thousands of plants are seized annually by Canadian authorities. Most of the high potency marijuana produced at these sites is destined for U.S. markets via brokers operating in the Montreal area.

End Notes

19. In this report northern New England refers to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
20. In this report southern New England refers to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

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