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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
Michigan HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
June 2010
Law enforcement in the HIDTA region report an increase in indoor and outdoor locally produced marijuana. This production is likely supported by demand for profitable high-potency marijuana, and the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, which allows qualified and registered patients to possess marijuana and cultivate specified amounts of cannabis (see text box). Michigan HIDTA initiatives seize a large number of cannabis plants in the region each year. In 2008, Michigan HIDTA initiatives eradicated approximately 3,546 kilograms of indoor plants and approximately 17,404 kilograms of outdoor plants. In 2009, they eradicated approximately 3,292 kilograms of indoor plants and 8,677 kilograms of outdoor plants. Although 2008 seizure statistics were higher than those in 2009, sources report that factors including limited law enforcement resources, project funding shortfalls, and unfavorable weather may have contributed to lower seizures. Indoor marijuana production typically takes place in houses or apartments privately owned or rented by independent growers, usually African Americans and Caucasians. Some growers operate large-scale grows in rented houses or apartments, or in commercial buildings that have multiple rooms in which to propagate, cultivate, and dry the plants. Outdoor marijuana production occurs in the region, particularly on state-owned property, on other open lands, or in agricultural fields among legitimate crops. Law enforcement reporting indicates that some outdoor marijuana production operations in Michigan are now more difficult to locate, since growers are scattering plants in swamps; wet conditions decrease the need for plant tending, and the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology by growers makes it easier to keep track of the locations of plants.
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Michigan Medical Marijuana Act The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, enacted in December 2008, allows a qualifying patient to possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana, and to cultivate, or designate a qualified caregiver to cultivate, 12 cannabis plants kept in an enclosed, locked facility. The program has received more than 20,000 applications for cards and has issued more than 10,000 patient and 4,000 caregiver registrations since April 6, 2009. Law enforcement authorities in states such as California and Washington with established medical marijuana laws report that although these laws allow the production, distribution, and use of marijuana for medical purposes, some individuals exploit the laws by deliberately exceeding the allowable limits to illegally produce and distribute marijuana. Source: State of Michigan. |
Methamphetamine production in Michigan is increasing as the "one-pot" method of producing the drug has gained popularity. (See text box.) National Seizure System (NSS) data indicate that the number of statewide methamphetamine laboratory seizures increased dramatically, from 101 in 2007, to 209 in 2008, and 358 in 2009. Statewide legislation enacted in December 2005 that restricted the sale of and access to products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, increased law enforcement efforts, and mandated public awareness campaigns effectively reduced local methamphetamine production. However, producers continue to obtain pseudoephedrine through smurfing operations,c and they increasingly employ simple production techniques such as the one-pot method to manufacture methamphetamine, particularly in Kalamazoo County, which recorded 148 of the 358 statewide laboratory seizures in 2009. (See Figure 3.) Local Caucasian independent dealers are the primary methamphetamine producers, operating small-scale laboratories that yield a few grams to a few ounces per production cycle.
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"One-Pot" Methamphetamine Production Increases in the Michigan HIDTA Region In the one-pot method, commonly available chemicals are combined in a container to produce methamphetamine. Individuals using this method are able to produce the drug in approximately 30 minutes at nearly any location by mixing the ingredients, usually in a 2-liter plastic bottle. Producers often use the one-pot method while traveling in vehicles and dispose of waste components along roadsides. Numerous methamphetamine producers still operate in homes, apartments, and motels, where they may perform multiple one-pot cooks at a time or in quick succession. Law enforcement reporting indicates that one-pot cooks have been increasing in size, since some producers are using 3-liter bottles, 5-gallon plastic containers, and multigallon water cooler bottles for their operations. Large one-pot operations reportedly use up to 20 boxes of pseudoephedrine at a time and can yield up to 50 grams of methamphetamine per production cycle. These sizable operations likely support multiple abusers. |
Figure 3. Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures in Michigan, 2005-2009
Source: National Seizure System, data run May 5, 2010.
Traffickers primarily use private and commercial vehicles to transport drugs to the region from Southwest Border states, Chicago, New York City, Atlanta, and Canada. Private automobiles and motor homes are often equipped with false compartments of varying levels of sophistication or contain manufactured voids in which traffickers conceal drugs. Law enforcement reporting suggests that Mexican DTOs in the Chicago area are encouraging the use of vehicles with hidden compartments or are providing them to their Michigan drug customers. Smugglers also are using private aircraft to smuggle marijuana and MDMA into Michigan from Canada. Additionally, traffickers hire couriers to transport illicit drugs on aircraft, buses, trains, and watercraft. Drug transporters continue to attempt different methods to move drugs and proceeds without detection. In late 2009, a Detroit man was convicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana; he had used tour buses to move drugs and cash around the United States. Some traffickers ship drugs into the region through the U.S. Postal Service and parcel delivery services. Approximately 10 heroin shipments from India addressed to homes in Detroit and suburbs within the HIDTA region were intercepted in late 2009 and early 2010 at parcel hubs. The Detroit addresses are often abandoned homes monitored by drug distributors; other addresses are often those of recipients who hold the unopened packages for distributors.
c. Smurfing is a method used by some methamphetamine and precursor chemical traffickers to acquire large quantities of pseudoephedrine. Individuals purchase pseudoephedrine in quantities at or below legal thresholds from multiple retail locations. Traffickers often enlist the assistance of several associates in smurfing operations to increase the speed with which chemicals are acquired.
UNCLASSIFIED
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