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2017 National Drug Threat Assessment UNCLASSIFIED//LAWUNCLASSIFIED ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED This page intentionally left blank. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Drug Enforcement Administration 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment OCTOBER 2017 DEA-DCT-DIR-040-17 This product was prepared by the DEA Strategic Intelligence Section. Comments and questions may be addressed to the Chief, Analysis and Production Section, at [email protected]. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED This page intentionally left blank. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment Table of Contents Letter from the Acting Administrator....................................................................................iii Executive Summary..................................................................................................................v Transnational Criminal Organizations .............................................................................................1 Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations...............................................................................1 Colombian Transnational Criminal Organizations...........................................................................8 Dominican Transnational Organizations...........................................................................................12 Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations.....................................................................................14 Gangs.....................................................................................................................................................17 Controlled Prescription Drugs...........................................................................................................25 Heroin....................................................................................................................................................45 Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids.............................................................................................57 Methamphetamine.............................................................................................................................67 Cocaine..................................................................................................................................................83 Marijuana..............................................................................................................................................99 New Psychoactive Substances (NPS).............................................................................................117 Illicit Finance......................................................................................................................................125 Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands............................................................................................................133 Guam.........................................................................................................................................................................136 Tribal Lands.............................................................................................................................................................138 Appendix A: National Drug Threat Survey Metholodolgy and Key Findings....................................143 Appendix B: Additional Tables.........................................................................................................................157 Appendix C: Additional Figures.......................................................................................................................162 Appendix D: National Drug Threat Assessement Scope and Methology............................................165 Appendix E: Acronym Glossary.......................................................................................................................167 UNCLASSIFIED i UNCLASSIFIED 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment This page intentionally left blank. ii UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment Letter from the Acting Administrator I am pleased to present the 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), a comprehensive strategic assessment of the threats posed to our communities by transnational criminal organizations and the illicit drugs they distribute throughout the United States. Produced in partnership with local, state, tribal, and federal agencies, and intergrating the most recently available reporting from law enforcement, intelligence, and public health agencies, this annual assessment provides policy makers, law enforcement personnel, and prevention and treatment specialists with relevant strategic drug intelligence to assist in formulating counterdrug policies, establishing law enforcement priorities, and allocating resources. My thanks to all participants agencies and organizations whose contributions continue to make possible this vital report. Your views and opinions are important and help us to best meet the needs of the law enforcement and intelligence communities. My colleagues at DEA look forward to collaborating on future high-priority strategic counterdrug initiatives that impact our national security interests, at home and abroad. Respectfully, Chuck Rosenberg Acting Administrator Drug Enforcement Administration UNCLASSIFIED iii UNCLASSIFIED 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment iv UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment Executive Summary The 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA)1 is a comprehensive strategic assessment of the threat posed to the United States by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs. The report combines federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement reporting; public health data; open source reporting; and intelligence from other government agencies to determine which substances and criminal organizations represent the greatest threat to the United States. Over the past 10 years, the drug landscape in the United States has shifted, with the opioid threat (controlled prescription drugs, synthetic opioids, and heroin) reaching epidemic levels, impacting significant portions of the United States. While the current opioid crisis has deservedly garnered significant attention, the methamphetamine threat has remained prevalent; the cocaine threat appears to be rebounding; new psychoactive substances (NPS) continue to be a challenge; and the focus of marijuana enforcement efforts continues to evolve. Drug poisoning deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States; they are currently at their highest ever recorded level and, every year since 2011, have outnumbered deaths by firearms, motor vehicle crashes, suicide and homicide. In 2015, approximately 140 people died every day from drug poisoning (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Number of Injury Deaths by Drug Poisoning, Suicide, Homicide, Firearms, and Motor Vehicle Crashes in the United States, 1999 – 2015.2 Source: Centers for Disease Control Prevention 1 Analyst Note: The information in this report is current as of August 2017. 2 Injury deaths may be counted multiple times due to categories overlapping. UNCLASSIFIED v UNCLASSIFIED 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs): Mexican TCOs remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group is currently positioned to challenge them. These TCOs maintain territorial influence over large regions in Mexico used for the cultivation, production, importation, and transportation of illicit drugs. Colombian TCOs: Colombian TCOs maintain control over the production and supply of cocaine to Mexican TCOs. Smaller Colombian TCOs maintain direct cocaine and heroin pipelines into the United States through couriers and maritime trafficking, as well as air cargo on commercial flights. Some Colombian TCOs also maintain a U.S.-presence to assist in the laundering of illicit proceeds. Dominican TCOs: Dominican TCOs are mainly active on the East Coast, where they work in collaboration with other TCOs, such as Mexican TCOs, to receive their wholesale illicit drug supply. Some U.S.-based Dominican TCOs receive direct supplies of cocaine and heroin, generally small quantities, from local TCOs in the Dominican Republic. Asian TCOs: Asian TCOs are primarily active on the East Coast and West Coast of the United States, with distribution networks stretching across other parts of the country. Asian TCOs are involved with marijuana and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy) drug trafficking operations. Gangs: Regional and national-scale gang alliances, such as prison-based gangs, are closely associated with Mexican TCOs, and have expanded their control over the drug-trafficking conducted by criminal street gangs in their respective territories. National, transnational, and prison gangs now significantly impact the domestic distribution of illicit drugs throughout the United States. Street gangs’ major source of income remains illegal drug trafficking, while the associated violence and drug addiction threaten community safety across the United States. Controlled Prescription Drugs (CPDs): CPD-involved overdose deaths have outpaced those for cocaine and heroin since 2002. Although recent data suggests abuse of these drugs has lessened in some areas, more individuals report current abuse of CPDs than report the same for cocaine, heroin,
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