U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
New Mexico HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
May 2010

HIDTA Overview

The New Mexico HIDTA region is composed of 16 counties--seven in northern New Mexico and nine in southern New Mexico (see Figure 1)--and has a population of more than 1.6 million. U.S. Census data indicate that nearly 50 percent of the population resides in either Bernalillo County (615,099 residents) or Dona Ana County (193,888). Other significant population centers are the counties of Santa Fe (142,407), San Juan (126,473), and Sandoval (113,772). Albuquerque is New Mexico's largest city, with approximately 504,949 residents; other major cities are Farmington, Las Cruces, Roswell, and Santa Fe. (See Figure 2.) The southern portion of the HIDTA is near the El Paso, Texas-Juárez, Chihuahua, borderplex, the largest international border community in the world, with a population of approximately 2.5 million.

Figure 1. New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

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Figure 2. New Mexico HIDTA Region Transportation Infrastructure

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Southwestern New Mexico--specifically Hidalgo, Luna, and Dona Ana Counties--shares a 180-mile border with Mexico. Three ports of entry (POEs) are located along the border: Antelope Wells, Columbus, and Santa Teresa. More than half the length of the New Mexico--Mexico border consists of desolate public land and private ranches that contain innumerable footpaths, roads, and trails. These factors and minimal law enforcement coverage make the border area an ideal corridor for smuggling drugs and other illicit goods and services (primarily aliens) into the United States and weapons and bulk cash into Mexico. Mexican DTOs smuggle multihundred-kilogram quantities of illicit drugs through this portion of the HIDTA region annually. The Boot Heel region, located in Hidalgo County, is where most cross-border smuggling activity takes place. (See Figure 2.) Once drug shipments reach New Mexico, they are typically divided into smaller quantities and distributed throughout New Mexico or transshipped to other locations throughout the United States.

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