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

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

• Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) are becoming more influential in the illicit drug trade in the PC HIDTA region. They transport large amounts of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana for Colombian and Dominican DTOs, the predominant cocaine and heroin traffickers in the region. Mexican DTOs also are increasingly transporting large quantities of high-purity ice methamphetamine into the region for local distribution.
   
• Dominican DTOs and criminal groups also are becoming more influential in the illicit drug trade in the PC HIDTA region. They are traveling to the Southwest Border area to obtain large quantities of cocaine and heroin for transport to the HIDTA region, and are developing sources of illicit drugs in the Caribbean region.
   
• Cocaine availability in the PC HIDTA region fluctuated the past year. The region experienced a significant decline in cocaine availability during the first half of 2007 and returned to previous levels during the second half of 2007. Cocaine availability declined again in the first quarter of 2008 and remained lower through the end of June. Law enforcement reporting on cocaine availability and prices indicates that cocaine is still in short supply in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.
   
• Street gang activity is increasing in the PC HIDTA region and is expanding from the inner cities to suburban and some rural areas. Many Bloods gang members are moving into these suburban and rural areas from northern and central New Jersey cities to recruit members and create new or take over established drug markets; as a result, drug-related violent crime is increasing in these areas.

HIDTA Overview

The PC HIDTA region comprises Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania and Camden County in New Jersey. The PC HIDTA was designated in 1995 to address the threat posed by illegal drugs and to increase the safety and quality of life in the region by measurably reducing drug-related crime and violence. The HIDTA region and surrounding counties (Bucks and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania and Burlington and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey) comprise the Philadelphia metropolitan area, which has an estimated population of more than 5.1 million. As such, the Philadelphia metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in the United States and the second-largest on the East Coast. Approximately 100 million people--more than a third of the U.S. population--live within a day's drive of Philadelphia, providing many distributors and abusers ready access to illicit drugs distributed in the HIDTA region.

The PC HIDTA region is ethnically diverse and is home to more than 166,000 foreign-born residents. This factor helps many drug traffickers assimilate in communities and mask their illicit activities. Philadelphia has the second-largest Jamaican population and the fourth-largest African American population in the nation. In recent years the Hispanic and Asian American (Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese) populations have significantly increased. Hispanics, mostly Puerto Ricans, have settled throughout the city, especially around El Centro de Oro, an area in the east side of North Philadelphia. Philadelphia now has the third-largest Puerto Rican population in the continental United States. The Asian population, once concentrated in Philadelphia's thriving Chinatown, is expanding throughout the region. The majority of Camden residents are African American; however, the local Hispanic population is rapidly increasing, especially in the East Camden section of the city.

The HIDTA region has a well-developed transportation infrastructure (including interstate highways, passenger rail and bus services, an international airport, and a seaport) that is ideally suited for the movement of illicit drugs and drug proceeds to and from the region. Interstate 95, the major north-south route on the East Coast, is the highway most frequently used by traffickers to transport drugs to the area; they generally use this interstate to supply illicit drugs to the region from New York, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; and Miami, Florida. Traffickers also transport illicit drugs to the region from the West Coast, Southwest Border states, and Canada, using virtually every roadway leading to the area. Drug shipments arriving in the PC HIDTA region typically are broken down into smaller quantities for local distribution within the region or transportation to other cities throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

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