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Drug Trafficking Organizations


Drug Trafficking Organizations, Criminal Groups, and Gangs

Drug trafficking organizations are complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantities of one or more illicit drugs.

Criminal groups operating in the United States are numerous and range from small to moderately sized, loosely knit groups that distribute one or more drugs at the retail level and midlevel.

Gangs are defined by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Associations as groups or associations of three or more persons with a common identifying sign, symbol, or name, the members of which individually or collectively engage in criminal activity that creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
  

Colombian DTOs dominate drug trafficking in the NY/NJ HIDTA region; they regularly obtain multihundred-kilogram quantities of cocaine, SA heroin, and marijuana from sources of supply in Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic for distribution in and from the area. They often contract with Dominican and Mexican DTOs to transport these drugs from Southwest Border areas to stash locations in outlying suburban communities, including Westchester County and Long Island, New York.

Dominican DTOs, either under contract with Colombian DTOs or acting independently, transport and distribute cocaine and SA heroin in the HIDTA region. They routinely smuggle illicit drugs into and through the region by private and commercial vehicles; however, Dominican DTOs also smuggle cocaine aboard maritime vessels from South America and the Caribbean, and they smuggle heroin using couriers on commercial aircraft that fly into major airports within the region. In July 2007 law enforcement officers arrested the head of a Dominican international drug organization that shipped heroin and cocaine from Colombia through Venezuela to the Dominican Republic and then used young Dominican female couriers to smuggle the drugs to the United States, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands. The couriers typically concealed the drugs in luggage and transported between 3 and 8 kilograms of cocaine and 1 and 3 kilograms of heroin per trip. Additionally, couriers working for Dominican traffickers occasionally smuggle cocaine and heroin into Miami International Airport and then transport the drugs to the NY/NJ HIDTA region in private and commercial vehicles. Dominican organizations are based primarily in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan and serve as midlevel cocaine and heroin distributors to lower-level distributors, principally smaller Dominican criminal groups and street gangs--such as Trinitarios. Additionally, some Dominican DTOs also deliver cocaine and heroin to their regular customers in Upstate New York.

Mexican DTOs are expanding their drug trafficking operations in the HIDTA region. They routinely transport significant quantities of SA heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the area from Mexico and southwestern states on behalf of Colombian DTOs and occasionally transport marijuana to the region from southwestern states for Jamaican criminal organizations. Mexican DTOs also are increasingly distributing wholesale quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in the region, particularly to Dominican DTOs in the New York metropolitan area and Upstate New York.

Jamaican DTOs distribute marijuana in the New York metropolitan area. They obtain marijuana supplies from Mexican distributors, either locally or in southwestern drug markets. Additionally, some Jamaican DTOs transport multiton quantities of marijuana to the region from Jamaica aboard maritime conveyances. Jamaican DTOs dominate marijuana distribution in sections of Manhattan and the Bronx, most of Queens (particularly the Jamaican section of southwestern Queens), northern Brooklyn (particularly Bedford, Bushwick, East Flatbush, East New York, and Williamsburg), and sections of northern New Jersey.

Ethnic Chinese DTOs, primarily Fukinese6 groups, smuggle Southeast Asian (SEA) heroin into the region within containerized cargo on maritime conveyances and by couriers aboard commercial aircraft. They supply heroin to Asian street gangs who, in turn, distribute the drug at the retail level.7

Street gangs, including Bloods, Crips, Dominicans Don't Play (DDP), Latin Kings, MS 13, Ņetas, and Trinitarios, are serving an increasing role in retail-level drug distribution throughout the NY/NJ HIDTA region. Gang members predominantly sell crack cocaine; however, many sell more than one type of drug, particularly since drug distribution is their primary source of income. Many New York City-based gangs, recognizing the potential for increased profits, now supply drugs to distributors in Upstate New York and northern New Jersey. Increasing gang-related drug distribution in the region has resulted in a corresponding increase in gang-related violence. For instance, in Newark, New Jersey, more than 13 gang-related homicides were reported in 2007; most had a nexus to drug trafficking.

 
Trinitarios Street Gang

The Trinitarios (meaning the Trinity or Special One) street gang was formed as a protection gang for Dominican inmates in New York prisons during the early 1990s. Upon leaving prison, members banded together as a street gang, calling themselves Trinitarians/Trinitarios to separate the gang from other Dominican street gangs, primarily DDP, in New York. While Trinitarios is primarily a Dominican gang, many Puerto Rican and South American members have joined the gang's ranks. Trinitarios members are establishing a reputation for extreme violence throughout the area. Since October 2007, confrontations between Trinitarios and DDP gang members have resulted in the shooting and killing of a youth, three other shootings, and at least nine stabbings and/or slashings. Trinitarios members do not have affiliations with any other gangs and are rivals of Bloods, Crips, DDP, Latin Kings, MS 13, and Ņetas. Trinitarios members are involved in retail-level distribution of heroin and cocaine in the NY/NJ HIDTA region and have reportedly migrated to Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
 

Numerous other DTOs and criminal groups operate within the NY/NJ HIDTA region (see Appendix C). Afghani, Nigerian, Pakistani, and West African DTOs smuggle Southwest Asian (SWA) heroin into and through the region. Italian organized crime (IOC) members have become more involved with hydroponic marijuana production in and around New York City and are also involved in marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and MDMA distribution in the region. Additionally, Puerto Rican DTOs and criminal groups are involved in cocaine and marijuana smuggling and distribution.

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Production

Illicit drug production in the HIDTA region largely consists of crack conversion, heroin milling, and cannabis cultivation. African American, Dominican, and Jamaican distributors generally convert powder cocaine to crack--often in small batches near the market in which the drug will be sold. However, according to law enforcement officials, approximately half of the crack sold in Upstate New York HIDTA counties is transported to the area from New York City.

Heroin is often milled in the New York City metropolitan area. Heroin mills are typically located in residential areas of the Bronx, Harlem, and Westchester County. For instance, 15 members of a Bronx-based heroin manufacturing and distribution organization were convicted in June 2007 of narcotics trafficking charges. This organization milled significant quantities of heroin at various locations throughout the Bronx for approximately 4 years. It also laundered millions of dollars in drug proceeds in the course of its operations. The leader of the organization funneled the illicit profits through the Dominican Republic. Heroin mills are a potential vulnerability for trafficking organizations because personnel with knowledge of trafficking operations are often at these sites, along with substantive evidence (ledgers, phone records, etc.) and substantial quantities of heroin.

Indoor cannabis cultivation is increasing in the HIDTA region. Marijuana trafficking groups typically purchase residences throughout the area to use in hydroponic grow operations. They often gut the houses so that all available space can be used for cannabis cultivation. Grow site operators also generally bypass utility meters to avoid detection through high utility usage. In 2007 the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized 17 indoor cannabis grow operations in New York City. The operations ranged in size from 20 to 800 plants and were seized from houses, apartments, and industrial structures. Outdoor cannabis grow sites are not common in the NY/NJ HIDTA region. According to law enforcement officials, low-level members of IOC families produce hydroponic marijuana on Long Island and in Howard Beach in southwestern Queens. They are attracted to marijuana production because of the drug's large profit margin.

Methamphetamine production is very limited in the NY/NJ HIDTA region. The metropolitan nature of the New York City area makes the concealment of laboratories there difficult; however, DEA seized two methamphetamine laboratories within the NY/NJ HIDTA region in 2007.8 These laboratories, like most of those seized in the rural areas of the HIDTA region, were small--only personal-use quantities could be produced. Most of the methamphetamine available in the region is produced by Mexican DTOs in Mexico or on the West Coast and then transported, by package delivery services or in personal vehicles, to the HIDTA region for distribution.


End Notes

6. The term Fukinese refers to individuals from the Fujian province of southeastern China.
7. Many of these gangs have realigned themselves with the Fukinese organizations and have adopted names such as Fuk Ching Flying Dragons, Fuk Ching Ghost Shadows, and Fuk Ching Green Dragons.
8. New York Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized 12 methamphetamine laboratories in 2007. In addition to the two seized within the HIDTA region (one laboratory each in Westchester and Erie Counties), seizures were also made in Cayuga, Chemung, Essex, Hamilton, Orleans, Oswego, Tioga (2), Ulster, and Washington Counties.


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