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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
North Texas HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
June 2010
Mexican DTOs are the principal wholesale distributors of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of the HIDTA region, while Asian DTOs, primarily Vietnamese, are the main distributors of MDMA and hydroponic marijuana. Local independent distributors and members of street, prison, and outlaw motorcycle gangs are the primary midlevel and retail-level drug distributors operating in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. African American and Hispanic street gangs are principal retail-level distributors of illicit drugs in the North Texas HIDTA region. African American drug traffickers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are increasingly distributing MDMA.
Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are significant suppliers of wholesale quantities of illicit drugs in Oklahoma City. Some members of African American and Hispanic street gangs, particularly South Side Locos and Juaritos, work with Mexican DTOs to distribute methamphetamine, marijuana, and cocaine in Oklahoma City at the retail level. African American street gangs also distribute MDMA and codeine-laced cough syrup to young abusers.
Methamphetamine is the drug that most contributes to property crime and violent crime in the HIDTA region. According to NDTS 2010 data, 56 of the 91 state and local law enforcement respondents in the North Texas HIDTA region identify methamphetamine as the drug most associated with property crime (see Figure 5), and 48 respondents identify methamphetamine as the drug most associated with violent crime (see Figure 6).
Figure 5. Drug Most Associated With Property Crime in the North Texas HIDTA Region, as Reported by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, by Number of Respondents
Source: National Drug Threat Survey 2010.
Figure 6. Drug Most Associated With Violent Crime in the North Texas HIDTA Region, as Reported by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, by Number of Respondents
Source: National Drug Threat Survey 2010.
Abusers of methamphetamine and other drugs commit crimes to obtain money to support their drug addictions, including stealing property, committing identity theft and credit card fraud, and other criminal activity. Some gangs in the HIDTA region have a propensity for violence, such as Tango Blast in Dallas and South Side Locos in Oklahoma City, and some gangs also commit auto theft, burglary, illegal immigrant smuggling, home invasion robbery, kidnapping, and murder.
Gang members (such as members of the East Side Homeboys street gang in Dallas) arrested on drug trafficking violations in the HIDTA region are frequently in possession of firearms, which they typically carry to protect their drug supplies or defend their distribution territories. They also use the firearms for intimidation or retaliation purposes and, at times, against law enforcement. Many gang and criminal group members obtain firearms by burglarizing area businesses, private homes and vehicles, or through straw purchasers.
Mexican criminals and trusted members of some gangs in the North Texas HIDTA region smuggle stolen and illegally purchased guns, particularly assault rifles, to Mexico for use by DTO enforcers. For example, in October 2009, gun smugglers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area were arrested in conjunction with Project Coronado. (See text box in Drug Trafficking Organizations section.) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) participated in the Project Coronado effort, targeting firearms smugglers working on behalf of La Familia. Six of the arrests occurred in Fort Worth, where a weapons trafficking ring had recruited and paid individuals to act as straw purchasers to buy firearms. After acquiring a sufficient number of firearms, the traffickers transported them to a ranch in Cleburne, Texas, where the guns were stored prior to shipment to the Southwest Border area and eventually to Mexico.
UNCLASSIFIED
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