National Drug Intelligence Center   Philadelphia/Camden High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2009   February 2009

Production

Illicit drug production in the PC HIDTA region is limited to the conversion of powder cocaine to crack and to occasional methamphetamine and marijuana production.

Crack conversion takes place in the HIDTA region, particularly in urban areas. African American street gangs and independent dealers convert powder cocaine to crack in residential settings, usually in the vicinity of the intended market.

Powder methamphetamine production in the HIDTA region is limited and generally takes place in the rural areas of the region. Seizure data indicate that only a few methamphetamine laboratories have been seized over the past several years in the region; however, law enforcement intelligence and investigative information suggest that methamphetamine production is slowly increasing, particularly in rural areas adjacent to the HIDTA region, such as the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania. Most clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in and near the PC HIDTA region are operated by OMGs, particularly Pagans and Warlocks, that typically produce only retail quantities of the drug; local independent Caucasian producers also produce limited amounts of methamphetamine, mostly for personal use.

Indoor cannabis cultivation appears to be increasing in the HIDTA region as marijuana traffickers attempt to attain higher profits through production of high-potency marijuana and take advantage of a perceived lack of law enforcement scrutiny of indoor cannabis grow sites in the PC HIDTA region. Asian DTOs and criminal groups in the region, primarily Vietnamese, are increasingly replicating methods used at indoor cannabis grow sites in Canada, such as using elaborate hydroponic equipment, bypassing electrical meters, and using entire buildings for grow operations. For example, some Asian DTOs in the HIDTA region have purchased high-priced houses in residential neighborhoods to use as grow sites. The houses are typically gutted, and all space is used for growing cannabis.

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Transportation

The PC HIDTA region's expansive transportation infrastructure is often exploited by DTOs to transport drugs into and throughout the region. Most illicit drugs available in the HIDTA region are transported from New York City in private vehicles along I-95; traffickers also use this route to transport illicit drugs through the region to markets in eastern Pennsylvania (Allentown, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, and York) as well as Delaware, southern New Jersey, and the eastern shore of Maryland. Traffickers also transport illicit drugs into the region along I-95 from Miami and Atlanta. According to law enforcement reporting, Atlanta is increasingly being used as a major distribution center for cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine sold in the PC HIDTA region. For example, Mexican DTOs are increasingly transporting drugs in tractor-trailers from Atlanta to the PC HIDTA region. Additionally, Philadelphia-based African American street gang members are increasingly traveling to Atlanta to pick up drugs for distribution in the region. Traffickers also are increasing their use of package delivery services to smuggle drugs from Atlanta to Philadelphia.

Interstates 76, 276, and 476 also are significant drug transportation routes to and from the HIDTA region. Traffickers typically use these routes when transporting illicit drugs by vehicle to the region from the West Coast, Southwest Border states, and Canada. Law enforcement reporting suggests that, in addition to interstate highways, traffickers are increasingly using indirect routes such as state routes and secondary roads to transport drugs to the area. In doing so, traffickers generally use common GPS (geographic positioning system) technology to navigate indirect routes.

Traffickers also transport drugs into and throughout the HIDTA region using rail, air, and maritime conveyances. They exploit Philadelphia's extensive intercity and regional passenger rail systems, which provide numerous departures and arrivals from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station to Baltimore, Maryland; New York City; and Washington, D.C. Newark- and Trenton-based street gangs in New Jersey routinely use commuter rail services to transport cocaine, currency, and gang members to Camden.

Drug traffickers sometimes use the Philadelphia International Airport to smuggle drugs into the HIDTA region because of its direct connection to many foreign and domestic locations, its high volume of travelers and cargo, and its proximity to major highways and interstates, including I-95. For example, in July 2008 a crew member aboard an Air Jamaica flight bound for Philadelphia discovered 5 pounds of cocaine and 4.5 pounds of marijuana hidden in the aircraft's galley. The drugs were wrapped tightly in brown tape and divided into eight packages; the source and destination of the drugs were undetermined. Federal and state authorities at the Philadelphia International Airport indicate that multikilogram shipments of heroin from Colombia and the Dominican Republic are occasionally discovered. The shipments are typically carried by couriers who are met at the airport or instructed to proceed to a hotel in the Philadelphia area to turn over the heroin. In one investigation, 4 kilograms of heroin were interdicted; the drug had been sewn into the lining of jeans carried in the courier's luggage. Couriers may also swallow pellets of heroin to transport the drug to the region. Some traffickers use numerous couriers on flights with several connections in a relay style, in which one courier hands the package to another at a midway stop. Additionally, some traffickers have reportedly employed handicapped individuals, or persons posing as handicapped, to transport drugs aboard commercial flights in the belief that they may receive less scrutiny during security screening.

Traffickers also use the Port of Philadelphia--which comprises the waterfront areas of Camden, Philadelphia, and Wilmington, Delaware--to smuggle drugs into the HIDTA region. Traffickers reportedly exploit maritime vessels that arrive in the port from numerous foreign countries, including high-risk drug source and transit countries such as Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Venezuela. For example, in August 2008 law enforcement officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DEA boarded a Colombian cargo container ship at the Port of Philadelphia and seized 6,500 grams of heroin and 1.5 grams of cocaine. In addition, cruise ship passengers, crew members, and stevedores have reportedly smuggled illicit drugs into the PC HIDTA region aboard cruise ships traveling between Philadelphia and various Caribbean island nations, many of which are drug transit countries.

Traffickers employ U.S. mail and package delivery services to ship illicit drugs into the region. Law enforcement officials in the PC HIDTA region report that traffickers are increasing their use of package delivery services to smuggle drugs from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Reporting also indicates an increase in the number of packages containing cocaine arriving in the region from the Caribbean. This may be an indication that traffickers are attempting to create alternative cocaine supply routes because of disruptions to the traditional routes by law enforcement. Many drug traffickers prefer to use package delivery services because they can monitor the shipments on the Internet. According to law enforcement officials, when a shipment is delayed, some traffickers assume that the package has been intercepted by law enforcement and refuse delivery out of fear of arrest.

Traffickers use a variety of concealment methods when transporting drugs to avoid detection and increase the likelihood of successful delivery. Drugs such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and diverted CPDs that are transported overland in private and commercial vehicles are often concealed by traffickers in oil pans, manifolds, brake drums, drive shafts, radiators, and gas tanks. Additionally, many traffickers construct false compartments in vehicles, some of which are operated electronically. Traffickers also hide drugs in various items such as furniture, stuffed animals, blankets, women's undergarments, and baby diapers or commingle them among shipments of legitimate goods. Some traffickers conceal commercially available GPS tracking devices in illicit drug shipments. They can then use the Internet to track the shipments and identify delays or deviations from the selected route, which may lead the trafficker to conclude that the shipment has been seized or compromised. Some traffickers transport heroin mixed with other substances, such as shampoo and soap, capitalizing on the unique chemical characteristics of the drug that enable it to be stored in solution--this requires the recipient to have some ability in chemistry to extract the drug. Traffickers who use package delivery services as a mode of transportation sometimes conceal illicit drugs in laptop computers, book bindings, ceramic statues, candles, candy bars, and other items. They also ship drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine in flat, commercial "letter envelopes" in an attempt to elude law enforcement or package handlers who are adept at discovering contraband shipped in larger boxes.

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