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Drug Threat Overview

The production, distribution, and abuse of methamphetamine, although somewhat diminished, pose the principal illicit drug threats to the Los Angeles HIDTA region. However, the production, distribution, and abuse of cocaine, marijuana, and PCP as well as the distribution and abuse of Mexican black tar heroin (and, to a lesser extent, Mexican brown powder heroin) and MDMA also pose significant law enforcement challenges. Forty-seven of the 58 respondents located within the Los Angeles HIDTA region that replied to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 2007 reported that methamphetamine was their greatest drug threat; the remainder reported that crack (5), marijuana (3), powder cocaine (2), and MDMA was the greatest drug threat to their jurisdictions. All of these respondents indicated that many other drugs, including heroin and PCP, also were problematic, albeit to varying degrees.

Law enforcement officers assigned to Los Angeles HIDTA task force initiatives seized more marijuana (64,913 kg) than any other illicit drug in 2007 and each year from 2004 through 2007. (See Table 1.) Their 2007 marijuana seizure totals were two times higher than their 2006 amounts; however, few officers report that marijuana is the most significant illicit drug threat. Officers that report marijuana as the principal illicit drug threat typically work in areas where other illicit drug production, distribution, and abuse levels are relatively low or in areas where the production, distribution, and abuse of marijuana often are associated with high levels of violence or other threats to public health and safety. (See text box regarding black mold in Production section.) For example, each of the Los Angeles HIDTA area respondents to the NDTS 2007 that identified marijuana as the greatest drug threat--which included the Palos Verdes Estates, Santa Monica, and South Pasadena Police Departments--also reported that marijuana availability was high and that the drug was produced in their jurisdictions. However, none of these respondents reported that methamphetamine, cocaine, or heroin was available at high levels, and Santa Monica was the only Police Department to report that MDMA (which poses a lesser drug threat to the HIDTA region overall) was available at high levels. Officers assigned to Los Angeles HIDTA task forces seized decreasing quantities of all other illicit drugs in 2007 as compared with 2006--notably cocaine, methamphetamine, and PCP. (See Table 1.)

Table 1. Illicit Drugs Seized in the Los Angeles HIDTA Region, in Kilograms, 2004-2007

Drug Type 2004 2005 2006 2007
Marijuana 36,294 72,191 30,431 64,913
Cocaine   2,920   4,062   4,461  2,367
     Powder NA   4,024   4,310  2,241
     Crack NA        38      151     126
Methamphetamine   2,536   2,229      733     465
     Powder NA   1,943      257      97
     Ice NA      286      476     368
PCP* NA        23      314      75
Heroin      36        15       83       56
MDMA      25        46      144 176,030**

Source: Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Performance Management Process Database.
NA - Not available.
* Liquid gallons.
** Dosage units.

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Drug traffickers in the Los Angeles HIDTA region adjust their illicit drug prices based upon a number of factors, including drug availability, quantity purchased, potency, and geographic area where purchased. They dramatically increased their wholesale prices for ice methamphetamine, cocaine, high-potency marijuana, and PCP in 2007 as compared with 2006, while drastically reducing their prices for wholesale quantities of MDMA during that same period. All of their other illicit drug prices were relatively unaffected in 2007 as compared with 2006. (See Table 2.)

Table 2. Illicit Drug Prices in the Los Angeles HIDTA Region, by Drug, 2006-2007

Drug Wholesale Midlevel Retail
2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007
Cocaine (powder) $12,000-$14,000/kg $17,000-18,000/kg $500-$600/oz $600-$800/oz $80/g $80/g
Heroin
   Black Tar $20,000-$22,000/kg $20,000-$22,000/kg $300-$800/oz $500-$800/oz $80/g $80/g
   Brown Powder $25,000/kg $25,000/kg NA NA
Marijuana
   Commercial-Grade $300-$350/lb $300-$350/lb $75-$100/oz $75-$100/oz $5-$10/g $5-$10/g
   High-Potency $2,000-$4,000/lb $6,000/lb $300-$600/oz $300-$600/oz $60-$80/¹/8 oz $60-$80/¹/8 oz
Methamphetamine (Ice) $8,000-$12,000/lb $16,000-$18,000/lb $650/oz $800-$1,200/oz $40/¼ g $40/¼ g
MDMA $6,000-$10,000/boat $2,500-$3,000/boat NA NA $10-$12/tablet $10-$12/tablet
PCP $10,000-$12,000/gallon $15,000-$18,000/gallon NA $300-$350/ounce NA $10-$20/sherm cigarette

Source: Los Angeles Clearinghouse; Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division.
Green - Price decreases from 2006 to 2007.
Red - Price increases from 2006 to 2007.
NA - Not available.

Ice methamphetamine price hikes in the Los Angeles HIDTA region--which increased to as much as $18,000 per pound in 20075 as compared with $12,000 per pound in 20066--were attributed to significant declines in the drug's availability in 2007 that resulted from effective law enforcement efforts on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border (including the California border); strict precursor chemical control regulations in Mexico that have forced Mexican DTOs and criminal groups to adapt their chemical purchases, production techniques, and smuggling routes; and escalating violence among DTOs and criminal groups fighting over drug smuggling corridors near the California-Mexico border. Most traffickers in the area will not cut their methamphetamine supplies with diluents or adulterants for distribution because ice methamphetamine abusers in the HIDTA region typically will not purchase "dirty ice" (ice that is less than 87 percent pure) or return to the same distributors if they unknowingly purchase dirty ice even once. Traffickers' elevated prices for cocaine are similarly attributed to declines in drug availability, which became increasingly apparent in the Los Angeles HIDTA region in the spring of 2007 before escalating more rapidly after Mexican authorities seized 23 metric tons of cocaine in Colima, Mexico, on October 30, 2007. The price increases for wholesale quantities of high-potency marijuana (which is increasingly available and abused in the HIDTA region) are more likely attributed to the increased risks associated with cultivation and distribution of marijuana, some of which is occasioned by successful law enforcement interdiction efforts in the Los Angeles HIDTA region. The increases in PCP prices can be attributed to arrests of key PCP producers--notably members of Bloods and Crips sets7--in the area as well as increases in security measures taken by those who still produce PCP in the HIDTA region.

The significant declines in wholesale MDMA prices in 2007 ($2,500 to $3,000/boat8) as compared with 2006 ($6,000 to $10,000/boat) are attributed to the large quantities of MDMA available for distribution in the area, much of which is smuggled from Europe, Canada and, to a lesser extent, Mexico. Some law enforcement officers also report that MDMA prices are down because of declining demand for the drug attributable to adverse publicity regarding the drug's effects and the closing of raves and other venues where MDMA abuse once was popular. Other law enforcement reporting indicates that MDMA pricing data are limited and/or inaccurate, in part, because of the current barter system whereby Asian street gang members and other traffickers are trading MDMA from Canada pound-for-pound with cocaine that was obtained through Mexican sources in the Los Angeles HIDTA region. These traffickers typically smuggle their cocaine supplies back into Canada for distribution and abuse.

Law enforcement officials supporting Los Angeles HIDTA initiatives arrested members of 262 drug trafficking groups9 in 2007, up slightly from 251 in 2006. Most of the arrests in 2007 involved Mexican (184) or Mexican American (73) criminals that ran international (131) and/or multistate (83) drug trafficking operations. Many of the criminals were polydrug traffickers who distributed more than one type of drug at a time, which most often included methamphetamine (136), cocaine (135), marijuana (75), heroin (17), MDMA (5), and/or PCP (3).

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Drug Trafficking Organizations

Highly sophisticated Mexican DTOs and criminal groups--whose drug operations often mirror successful, legitimate businesses--pose the most formidable law enforcement challenges to the Los Angeles HIDTA region. Los Angeles-based Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are closely aligned with the most significant drug cartels in western Mexico--principally the Sinaloa Cartel (also known as the Chapo Guzmán Organization) and Tijuana Cartel (also known as the Arellano Félix Organization (AFO)--and they successfully exploit these relationships to maintain control of the smuggling to and wholesale distribution of illicit drugs in and outside the HIDTA region. These well-integrated networks as well as those they increasingly forge with members of other DTOs, criminal groups, street gangs, prison gangs, and OMGs that distribute significant quantities of illicit drugs help their drug networks flourish. Each of these trafficking groups willingly works with Mexican DTOs and criminal groups (which are smaller in size than they had been previously) for profit.

Drug Trafficking Organizations, Criminal Groups, and Gangs

Drug trafficking organizations are complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantities of one or more illicit drugs.

Criminal groups operating in the United States are numerous and range from small to moderately sized, loosely knit groups that distribute one or more drugs at the retail level and midlevel.

Gangs are defined by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Associations as groups or associations of three or more persons with a common identifying sign, symbol, or name, the members of which individually or collectively engage in criminal activity that creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups often compartmentalize duties to ensure that knowledge about the various aspects of their operations is limited and tightly controlled. Their members often have a strong sense of loyalty, particularly since many are family members or close friends, a practice that makes detection by law enforcement more difficult. Although Mexican DTOs and criminal groups typically rely on well-established smuggling routes, they easily adapt their smuggling routes and techniques to law enforcement pressures, particularly when that pressure could impact the flow of illicit drugs into the Los Angeles HIDTA region and the return of drug proceeds to Mexico. Mexican DTOs and criminal groups do not tolerate disobedience by their members, particularly at the highest levels. They have the knowledge and wherewithal to enforce the threats that they make. Individuals that jeopardize Mexican DTOs' and criminal groups' drug operations and other illicit activities are often dealt with violently, frequently resulting in serious injury or death.

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups in the Los Angeles HIDTA region often exploit the region's large Mexican illegal alien population for the more risky aspects of drug trafficking, typically by coaxing them to smuggle illicit drugs from Mexico to the HIDTA region or by using them to tend cannabis grow sites or methamphetamine production operations. When illegal aliens are arrested for transporting illicit drugs, they typically are too afraid to cooperate with law enforcement officers because of the high level of violence or threat of violence to them and their family members by those who enforce DTOs' and criminal groups' rules. In many cases, members of the DTO or criminal group quickly replace one illegal alien with another. Some of these illegal aliens put their lives in grave danger and receive minimal payment for their services. For example, those that tend to cannabis grow sites often are dropped off in dense forest lands and other remote locations with minimal food, water, and shelter for weeks or months at a time. Their work days are long and hard, and they often receive under $25 a day for their services (most of which they send back to their families in Mexico). Many also are confronted by vicious animals and violent criminals. Some of those criminals steal their drug crops and/or kill the cultivators. In addition, those that tend to methamphetamine production sites work with toxic chemicals, the combinations of which can cause serious burns, long-term health problems, and explosions that could and sometimes do result in death.

The number of street gangs, prison gangs and, to a lesser extent, OMGs who purchase significant quantities of illicit drugs from Mexican DTOs and criminal groups for distribution in the Los Angeles HIDTA region is among the largest in the country. (See text box.) Street gang members increasingly are infiltrating suburban and rural communities that previously had minimal drug threats, including the Antelope Valley area (parts of which are located in both Los Angeles County and nearby Kent County), the Inland Empire, and the many other U.S. drug markets that they also service. Most of their local migration is attributed to rising housing costs--housing in the Inland Empire is comparatively cheaper than in Los Angeles--and intense law enforcement pressure in inner-city Los Angeles neighborhoods where the largest number of traffickers typically congregates for drug trafficking and other illicit activities. Some of their expansion outside the HIDTA region also is attributed to elevated housing costs and increased enforcement efforts in the Los Angeles HIDTA region. However, a larger portion of that migration can be attributed to increased profit potential in those drug markets, which often is greatly enhanced once outside the Los Angeles HIDTA region. Regardless of the suburban or rural community impacted by this migration, the majority lack the infrastructure to properly deal with high levels of drug distribution and violent crime. Law enforcement officers in San Bernardino County report that the increasing number of murders in their jurisdiction directly correlates with the increasing number of gang members who have migrated from Los Angeles to San Bernardino County to distribute illicit drugs and commit other crimes.

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Street Gangs, Prison Gangs, and OMGs in the Los Angeles HIDTA Region

Street Gangs. Most street gangs in the Los Angeles HIDTA region form along ethnic lines, predominantly Hispanic, African American, and Asian. Law enforcement officers estimate that over 2,800 active street gangs with over 140,000 membersa distribute illicit drugs and commit other crimes (murder, alien smuggling, kidnapping, and weapons smuggling) in the Los Angeles HIDTA region. The most prominent street gangs in the HIDTA region include Bloods and Crips sets, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), West Side, and 18th Street; the vast majority of the gang members in the HIDTA region rely exclusively on their drug profits for income. Racial tensions between African American and Hispanic gang members, long problematic, are high and increasing throughout the HIDTA region. An estimated 1,400 street gangs with over 100,000 members distribute illicit drugs in Los Angeles County, particularly from housing projects in southeast Los Angeles (which are among the largest in the country); numerous others distribute illicit drugs within well-defined city blocks--increasingly from the Inland Empire and Orange County, which has gang problems that often mirror those in Los Angeles, albeit on a smaller scale. Unlike Los Angeles County, Orange County has mostly Hispanic street gang members. The number of drug-related homicides in Orange County continues to increase; over half occur annually in Santa Ana, home to the most violent street gangs that distribute illicit drugs in the county. Asian street gang activity is more pronounced in Santa Ana, which has the largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam, many of whom distribute illicit drugs.

An increasing number (currently about one-third) of all the street gangs HIDTA-wide have military-trained gang members with knowledge of and access to sensitive military equipment and weapons, which they use to further their drug trafficking activities. Most law enforcement officers do not receive the same type of military training and are therefore often unprepared for the traffickers' reactions. For example, in summer 2007 a U.S. Marine, while on leave following a 7-month tour in Iraq and high on cocaine, lured police officers into the parking lot of a liquor store in Ceres (a small town in northern California) on behalf of the Norteños street gang. Once in the parking lot, the Marine ambushed two police officers with an SKS assault rifle, killing one and injuring another, by using two separate tactics that he learned through his military training. Neither officer was reportedly prepared for this attack, particularly since the Marine acted offensively by moving directly toward police fire, unlike most drug traffickers and other criminals who typically hide or run away when confronted that way. This attack exemplifies the aggressiveness of gangs that increasingly recruit members with military training.

Prison Gangs. There also are over 13,500 prison gang members in Los Angeles County jails, the largest and most problematic of which is the Mexican Mafia (known as La Eme).b The Mexican Mafia controls much of the Hispanic prison population as well as Hispanic street gang activities in metropolitan areas within the HIDTA region and in all of southern California. They also are among the top five prison gangs by size in the United States.

Mexican Mafia members and those who work on their behalf collect fees or taxes from some Hispanic street gangs for their right to distribute drugs in specific neighborhoods. For example, in May 2007 agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in coordination with the Coachella Valley Gang Task Force arrested 13 individuals, including alleged members of the Mexican Mafia, for working with the José Chávez Huerta DTO to distribute illicit drugs and launder drug proceeds in and around Coachella Valley. Two senior members of the Huerta DTO reportedly controlled drug trafficking operations in Coachella Valley on behalf of the Mexican Mafia, in addition to controlling drug operations on their own organization's behalf. The Hispanic street gang members who distributed illicit drugs in the area reportedly paid taxes to these senior Huerta DTO members. They, in turn, paid taxes to their Mexican Mafia sponsors, and enforced Mexican Mafia rules using threats and violence.

OMGS. Prominent OMGs such as Diablos, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, Mongols, and Vagos also distribute illicit drugs in the HIDTA region, albeit on a much smaller scale than street gangs and prison gangs. Members of some of these OMGs increasingly are working with prison and street gangs to transport illicit drugs to and distribute illicit drugs in the HIDTA region and in various other drug markets throughout the country, principally to their counterparts.

Source: Los Angeles Joint Drug Intelligence Group; California Department of Justice Criminal Intelligence Bureau; Los Angeles Sheriff's Department; Los Angeles Police Department.

a. No law enforcement agency in the Los Angeles HIDTA region or the rest of the state currently collects and analyses gang-related data and intelligence by county so these numbers reflect compilations of data from a number of different sources.
b. Mexican Mafia control originated in the California Department of Corrections in the 1950s by members of several southern California Hispanic streets gangs and, to a lesser extent, northern California street gangs who wanted to protect themselves from assaults by African American and Caucasian inmates and to counter perceived unfair treatment from the correctional staff. The southern California gang members--initially referred to as Southsiders and later as Sureños--aligned themselves with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, while northern California street gang members--referred to as Northsiders and later as Norteños--aligned themselves with the Nuestra Familia prison gang. Hispanic street gang members entering the California prison system were required by the Mexican Mafia and Nuestra Familia prison gangs to set aside their street gang names, affiliations, and rivalries and represent themselves as either Sureños or Norteños members, a practice that is still followed today.

African American, Caucasian, Colombian, Salvadoran, Canadian, Chinese, Jamaican, Vietnamese, and other Asian criminal groups and independent dealers also transport illicit drugs to the Los Angeles HIDTA region for distribution. However, the nature and scope of their trafficking operations are relatively minor in comparison with the operations of Mexican DTOs and criminal groups and, to a lesser extent, the street gangs, prison gangs, and OMGs with which they affiliate.

End Notes

5. Prices for ice methamphetamine again increased to as much as $19,500 by the end of March 2008.
6. Prices for ounce quantities of ice methamphetamine also increased in 2007 ($800 to $1,200) as compared with 2006 ($650).
7. The Bloods and Crips are associations of structured and unstructured gangs that emulate (copy) a single gang culture. Most Bloods and Crips gangs are local gangs that maintain few or no ties to other Bloods or Crips gangs. There are, however, several national-level Bloods and Crips gangs that have smaller subgroups that are commonly referred to as sets or cliques. For example, Bounty Hunters is a Los Angeles-based Bloods gang that maintains ties to same-named sets in Anniston, Alabama; Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Mesa, Arizona; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Wichita, Kansas. The Rolling 60's is a Los Angeles-based Crips gang that maintains ties to same-named sets in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Shreveport, Louisiana; and several other locations.
8. There are 1,000 tablets in a boat.
9. Eight of these trafficking groups specialized in money laundering.

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