Appendix C. OCDETF Regional Summaries

Southwest Regional Overview

Regional Overview

The Southwest Region encompasses Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and the nine southernmost counties in California. Within the Southwest Region are eight HIDTAs--the California Border Alliance Group (CBAG), Los Angeles, Arizona, New Mexico, Houston, North Texas, South Texas, and West Texas--as well as 11 U.S. Attorney Districts. The Southwest Region, which contains the entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, is the principal arrival zone for most illicit drugs smuggled into the United States. Mexican DTOs operating in Mexico and the United States exert nearly total control over drug trafficking operations along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Southwest Region also serves as a significant national money laundering hub for the transport and placement of illicit funds derived from the sale of drugs in the region and throughout the country.

Drug Threat Overview

Methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin as well as ODDs and pharmaceuticals pose varying threats to the Southwest Region. The threats posed by methamphetamine and cocaine are growing as a result of the increased involvement of Mexican DTOs in the distribution of these drugs from the Southwest Region to markets throughout the United States. Marijuana is the most seized drug by weight along the Southwest Border and is the most widely available and abused drug in the region. The trafficking and abuse of heroin also are a significant threat because of the amount of Mexican black tar (MBT) and Mexican brown powder (MBP) heroin as well as South American heroin smuggled into and through the region. ODDs and pharmaceuticals pose a much lesser threat because lower volumes of these drugs are smuggled across the border, and national distribution from the region is limited to MDMA and PCP.

To Top      To Contents

Strategic Regional Developments

• Mexican DTOs operating in the Southwest Region are rapidly increasing their influence over drug distribution in all regions of the country. Mexican DTOs exert greater influence over drug trafficking in the United States than any other organizations, and their influence is increasing, particularly with respect to cocaine and methamphetamine distribution.

• The amount of methamphetamine smuggled across the Southwest Border has increased considerably in recent years. Ice methamphetamine is becoming the predominant form of the drug seized in and transshipped from the region and may pose an even more severe threat as a result of increased demand, purity, and profit potential. Methamphetamine production has decreased in the region; however, quantities sufficient for national-level distribution continue to be produced. This decline is primarily a result of the influx of the drug from Mexico, regulatory efforts to control precursor chemicals, and law enforcement efforts.

• Marijuana production has increased in California in response to increased regional and national demand for the drug, particularly higher potency marijuana. Mexican DTOs that cultivate significant quantities of cannabis at large-scale outdoor cannabis grow sites are producing commercial-grade marijuana with slightly higher THC levels than in the past. Various criminal groups are also increasingly producing high-grade marijuana at indoor grow sites in response to increased demand.

• Mexican DTOs are moving away from seasonal marijuana smuggling patterns and now stockpile marijuana shipments and smuggle the drug throughout the year.

• PCP production has decreased during the past year in Los Angeles, one of the primary PCP production areas in the country, largely as a result of the arrests of several major producers. As a result of decreased production, PCP is less available in the Los Angeles area, and national-level distribution most likely will decrease.

• MDMA supplied by Canadian sources is increasingly being distributed in the Southwest Region and could have national-level impact as a result of Los Angeles's role as a large domestic MDMA market. Asian DTOs, one of the primary groups involved in the smuggling of MDMA from Canada into the United States, have established trafficking networks in the Region, particularly Los Angeles and Houston, which could facilitate MDMA distribution in and from these areas.

• The Southwest Region serves as one of the most significant national money laundering centers for illicit drug proceeds generated throughout the United States. The physical transportation of bulk cash and monetary instruments is the principal method used by traffickers to remove illicit drug proceeds from drug market areas to and through the Southwest Region.

Variations From National Trends

• Asian DTOs are increasing their distribution capabilities in the Southwest Region's primary metropolitan areas. Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese DTOs distribute significant quantities of BC Bud and methamphetamine as well as MDMA in the region. These trafficking organizations obtain the drugs from sources in the Pacific Region and Canada.

• Mexican pharmacies located along the U.S.-Mexico border are a primary source of prescription narcotics, depressants, and steroids distributed in and abused throughout the Southwest Region. San Diego is one of the most significant pharmaceutical smuggling areas in the country, owing to its proximity to Tijuana, which has 10 times the number of pharmacies needed to support its population.

• Law enforcement officials along the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border are documenting increasingly violent confrontations between law enforcement officials and drug traffickers. Mexican DTOs operating along the border often use violence to facilitate the passage of their illicit cargo.

• Large-scale Mexican DTOs increasingly are using subterranean tunnels in California and Arizona to smuggle illicit drugs (primarily cocaine and marijuana) into the United States.

To Top      To Contents     To Previous Page     To Next Page

To Publications Page     To Home Page