U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
Northern California HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
June 2010

Production

Despite a decline in local methamphetamine production over the last 5 years, overall methamphetamine availability is high because of the increasing accessibility to Mexico-produced methamphetamine in the Northern California HIDTA region. Methamphetamine production is decreasing in the Northern California HIDTA region as evidenced by a 5-year decline in the number of methamphetamine laboratories seized in the region. (See Table 1.) Methamphetamine production has declined primarily because of successful law enforcement operations and regulatory efforts to control precursor chemicals, such as point-of-sale restrictions.d Mexican DTOs and criminal groups--the principal methamphetamine producers in the region--circumvent California's point-of-sale control measures by conducting well-organized, large-scale smurfing operationse to acquire the necessary precursor chemicals, primarily pseudoephedrine. Many of these smurfing operations extend beyond northern California into southern California. Consequently, some Mexican methamphetamine producers have relocated their production operations from the Northern California HIDTA region to the Central Valley HIDTA region, which is closer to pseudoephedrine sources.

Source: Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, March 2010.
* Laboratories capable of producing 10 or more pounds of methamphetamine in a single production cycle are known as superlabs.

The Northern California HIDTA is one of the most significant cannabis cultivation areas in the United States. According to DEA Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) data, more than 7.5 million cannabis plants were eradicated from outdoor and indoor grow sites in California in 2009--a 41 percent increase from the 5.3 million plants eradicated in 2008. (See Table 2.) The Northern California HIDTA region accounted for 14 percent (1,045,704) of the plants eradicated in California in 2009. (See Table 3.)

Source: Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program.
Note: In 2009, California accounted for 72 percent of the 10,394,642 cannabis plants seized in the United States.

Source: Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program; Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, January 2010.
* None reported.

Mexican DTOs conduct most of the outdoor cannabis cultivation operations in the HIDTA region, typically using remote locations, public lands, and rural areas, primarily in Lake, Santa Clara, and Sonoma Counties. (See Figure 2.) These DTOs, primarily from Michoacán, Mexico, commonly employ illegal aliens to tend the grow sites, harvest the cannabis, and protect the sites from intruders. Some of these individuals are coerced into employment in exchange for passage into the United States and protection for their families living in Mexico.

Figure 2. Cannabis Plants Eradicated, by Site and HIDTA County, 2009

d-link

Public lands in the Northern California HIDTA region are increasingly used, primarily by Mexican DTOs, for cannabis cultivation, resulting in more incidents of environmental damage. Contaminated watersheds, nonbiodegradable garbage, and human waste resulting from outdoor cannabis cultivation pose a serious concern to the region. Toxic insecticides and chemical repellants enter and contaminate ground water, pollute watersheds, kill fish and other wildlife, and eventually enter residential water supplies. Redirection of natural water leads to erosion and impacts native vegetation.

Caucasian criminal groups and independent dealers are the principal producers of high-potency marijuana at indoor sites in the Northern California HIDTA region. However, Asian DTOs and criminal groups are increasingly establishing large-scale indoor cannabis grow sites to produce significant quantities of high-potency marijuana. Indoor cannabis cultivators typically establish grow sites in multiple residences, often using hydroponic technology, elaborate lighting, and irrigation systems. They prefer the indoor environment because it allows them to avoid intensified outdoor eradication efforts while realizing higher profits derived from a year-round growing season that can yield a crop every 90 days. Indoor cannabis cultivators often bypass meters and modify electrical circuitry, creating hazardous conditions that contribute to electrical shock or fire. For example, the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force reports that cannabis cultivators operate multiple indoor grow sites in communities south of San Francisco. These communities have an abundance of inexpensive four- or five-bedroom houses with above-ground electricity poles situated near the rear of the properties, where cannabis cultivators can discreetly tap into electrical sources. Local fire departments often alert law enforcement officials to indoor cannabis grow sites when called to extinguish fires caused by overloaded electrical circuits. Additional hazards exist when booby traps are used to protect grow sites from thieves and law enforcement personnel.

Transportation

The extensive transportation infrastructure in northern California provides traffickers with direct highway access to several routes from drug sources in other areas of California as well as in Mexico and Canada. (See Figure 1 in HIDTA Overview section.) Traffickers transport illicit drug shipments on Interstates 5 and 80 and other major highways, using private and commercial vehicles, often equipped with hidden compartments. For example, in September 2009, a Redwood City resident was sentenced to 17½ years in prison for conspiring to distribute more than 6 kilograms of methamphetamine. He had coordinated the delivery of the methamphetamine, concealed inside the transmission of a pickup truck, from Mexico for intended distribution in San Francisco and elsewhere in northern California. San Francisco law enforcement officials have identified several local businesses that specialize in the modification of private and commercial delivery vehicles that transport illicit drugs throughout the HIDTA region.

Traffickers also transport illicit drugs and drug proceeds into and through the HIDTA region through package delivery services and the mail system, particularly from foreign sources. The Oakland/San Francisco U.S. Customs International Mail Branch is one of only 13 mail branches in the country (and one of three in the western United States). The high volume of packages, particularly from Asia, that transit the area makes detection and interdiction at these facilities extremely challenging for U.S. Customs officials. Furthermore, independent dealers are increasingly relying on Internet purchases rather than traveling to Mexico to obtain CPDs, steroids, or ketamine. The large number of online suppliers and Internet pay accounts that require only limited personal information hinder law enforcement efforts.

Footnotes

d. In 2005, the U.S. Government passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, which placed point-of-sale restrictions on retail pseudoephedrine sales.
e. Pseudoephedrine smurfing is a method used by some methamphetamine traffickers to acquire large quantities of precursor chemicals. Methamphetamine producers purchase the chemicals in quantities at or below legal thresholds from multiple retail locations, often enlisting the homeless to increase the speed of the operation and the quantity of chemicals acquired.

UNCLASSIFIED

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