U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
North Texas HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
June 2010

Production

Local small-scale methamphetamine production increased significantly in the Oklahoma areas of the HIDTA region in 2009. After the enactment of state precursor chemical control legislation in 2004,e powder methamphetamine production levels in the North Texas HIDTA region declined significantly. However, authorities in the HIDTA Oklahoma counties have reported a resurgence in methamphetamine production since late 2008, particularly involving the one-pot, or shake-and-bake, method and most notably in Tulsa County, where 398 methamphetamine laboratories were seized in 2009. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) reports that the number of methamphetamine laboratories seized in the six Oklahoma counties in the HIDTA region increased nearly 290 percent from 2008 (121) to 2009 (468). OBN reports that of the 943 methamphetamine laboratories seized in the entire state of Oklahoma in 2009, 95 percent were one-pot laboratories. Only six methamphetamine laboratories were seized in Texas counties in the HIDTA region in 2009. (See Table 5.)

Table 5. Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizure Incidents in North Texas HIDTA Counties 2007-2009*

Source: Oklahoma counties: Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, as of April 1, 2010;
              Texas counties: National Seizure System, as of March 24, 2010.
*Data are inclusive of chemical/equipment, dumpsite, and laboratory seizures. HIDTA counties not listed report no seizure incidents from 2007 through 2009.

Texas DPS authorities indicate that during 2009, Mexican traffickers transported liquid methamphetamine to the Dallas/Fort Worth area; however, no seizures of this form of the drug have been recorded since late 2009. Texas DPS officers note that quantities of acetone have been discovered in some methamphetamine stash houses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Traffickers convert or "recrystallize" the liquid compound to high-purity (98%) ice methamphetamine crystals or shards using an acetone-wash process. Although no liquid methamphetamine has been seized in the HIDTA region since the last quarter of 2009, there is still reporting that acetone is being stored in stash houses in the area, leading to an intelligence gap regarding the purpose of this chemical.

Law enforcement officials in the region report an increase in the number of indoor cannabis grow operations, particularly those producing hydroponic marijuana. The majority of indoor hydroponic grows in the HIDTA region are found in rental units or homes in residential areas, primarily in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Grow operators are employing techniques such as using stolen electric meters during the production process to avoid detection of excessive electricity use. In the first quarter of 2010, law enforcement officers in Lubbock County, Texas, reported a noticeable increase in the cultivation of hydroponic cannabis in dorm rooms and apartments.

Law enforcement officials also report an increase in the number of outdoor grow operations in the North Texas HIDTA region, particularly in the heavily wooded rural areas of the region. In July 2009, law enforcement officers discovered several large cannabis grow operations in Ellis and Navarro Counties, resulting in the seizure of more than 16,000 plants. Officers in Oklahoma discovered other large grow operations in a remote section of the Kiamichi Mountains situated in southeastern Oklahoma across the border from Texas. Evidence at many of the grow sites in the region indicates that the principal growers are Mexicans, usually illegal nationals.

Transportation

Mexican traffickers smuggle multikilogram to multiton quantities of illicit drugs--primarily cocaine, ice methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana--to the North Texas HIDTA region, either directly from Mexico through major ports of entry (POEs) along the U.S.-Mexico border (such as Laredo, El Paso, McAllen, or Brownsville) or other, smaller Southwest Border towns, or through California and Arizona. Traffickers continually adjust their smuggling routes through the region to avoid interdiction on the major highways in the North Texas HIDTA region. For example, law enforcement in Terry County (which is directly southwest of Lubbock County) reports that traffickers are avoiding concentrated law enforcement interdiction efforts along Interstates 10, 20, 27, and 40 and shifting to less traveled highways such as U.S. Highways 62, 380, and 385 to transport drug shipments from western states to the North Texas area.

Drug shipments that arrive in the HIDTA region are often repackaged for distribution to drug markets in the region and throughout the United States. NSS data indicate that seized drug shipments originating in the North Texas HIDTA region in 2009 were destined primarily for drug markets in southeastern and midwestern states, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Aviation smuggling is increasing in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. ICE agents indicate that traffickers are transporting cocaine and marijuana as well as illegal aliens by air from the Dallas/Fort Worth area to other transshipment locations, such as Atlanta. Much of this activity occurs at private airports through the use of private pilots referred to as mercenary pilots.

Footnote

e. Officials in Oklahoma passed and enacted House Bill 2167 in April 2004, the first legislation of its kind in the United States.

UNCLASSIFIED

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