Diverted Pharmaceuticals & Gang Distribution
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Gag Inte lligence Newsletter LOS ANGELES JOINT DRUG INTELLIGENCE GROUP INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN March 2010 Volume 3, Issue 2 Diverted Pharmaceuticals & Gang Distribution Amid new reports of anthrax-laced heroin killing eight users this past winter1 and cocaine cut with a livestock de-worming drug that sick- ened dozens and killed two,2 new dangers associ- 18th Street Lopez Maravilla ated with illicit drugs have come to light, apart A.V. Skins (White Power) Lott Stoners from those previously known. Arizona Maravilla Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) Armenian Power Maravilla Rifa Conversely, controlled pharmaceutical drugs (CPDs) are be- Avenue Piru Bloods Murrieta Fight Club lieved to be “much safer” than illicit drugs by 40% of teens.4 Azusa 13 Nazi Low Riders (NLR) Owing in part to being FDA-approved and being manufactured Campanella Park Piru Old Town Trece for legitimate medical purposes, some recreational users trust Center Park Bloods Osage Legend Crips that CPDs are comparatively safer Centinela Park Bloods Peckerwoods (SWP) and less addictive than illicit drugs, 70% of cocaine seized in the U.S. Choppers Public Enemy Number even during non-medical use. How- contains Levamisole, a livestock City Terrace One (PEN1) ever, these dangerous misconceptions de-worming drug that suppos- Elsinore Young Classics Queen Street Bloods are negated by clear-cut fact: opioid edly enhances cocaine’s Fraser Maravilla Raymond Avenue Crips euphoric effects but has been painkillers (such as codeine, fentanyl, Gage Maravilla Rollin 30s linked to illness and deaths. Geraghty Loma Sangra OxyContin® and Vicodin®) now cause Substance Abuse and Mental Health Hells Angels Santa Monica 13 more drug overdose deaths than co- Services Administration, September 21, 2009 Inglewood Trece South Side Gangsters caine and heroin combined.4 Juarez Maravilla Stoners 13 From OxyContin® to Heroin and Beyond King Kobras Upland 9th Street Laguna Park Vikings White Fence Reportedly, the American public attaches relatively little Lil Valley stigma to the diversion of prescription meds in comparison to illicit narcotics;5 such that a heroin-injecting junkie is viewed more negatively than a pill-popping recreational user. reported that, “The biological effects of pharmaceutical fen- tanyls are indistinguishable from those of heroin, with the excep- The more accurate picture of an OxyContin® abuser, though, 12 isn’t one of an addict clutching pills in one hand and a glass of tion that the fentanyls may be hundreds of times more potent.” water in the other. Snorting, smoking and injecting Oxy are the The Supply Channels most popular methods of abuse. In a process called “chasing the The sources of diverted CPDs are many. They can be ac- dragon,” abusers place the pill on aluminum foil, heat the under- quired through rogue Internet pharmacies and through diversion side with a flame, and inhale the vapors.6 The process effec- techniques such as doctor-shopping, prescription fraud, and tively bypasses the drug’s time-release control and floods the theft.13 Of particular difficulty for law user with euphoria to last 3 to 4 hours. As higher tolerance levels enforcement is thwarting the large Between 2004 and 2008, 49% are developed, some users Oxy Addict’s Math segment of users who receive diverted of law enforcement authorities dissolve OxyContin® pills CPDs for free from friends and family. in the Southwest region of the and inject the solution. Oxycodone abusers with a high tolerance U.S. reported street gang may ingest 400 milligrams of the drug daily Though they are not typically dis- involvement in illicit pharma- Since OxyContin® and (five 80 milligram tablets), for an average tributed by drug trafficking organiza- ceutical distribution. cost of $400. These abusers could maintain heroin are both opiates tions and criminal groups in the same National Prescription Drug Threat and deliver a similar high, their addictions with 2 grams of heroin daily, manner as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, Assessment 2009, NDIC, DEA dependency on the pre- at a cost of one-third to one-half that of prescriptions opioids, depending on the area and methamphetamine, numerous illicit scription drug has pre- of the country and the purity of the heroin. drug distributors, particularly street gangs and outlaw motorcy- ceded future heroin abuse cles gangs, have added diverted CPDs to their drug supplies.14 7 National Prescription Drug Threat Assessment in numerous cases. Based 2009, NDIC, DEA on his observations of a Distributing prescription opioids alongside heroin, in particu- growing number of youths who abuse prescription pain relievers, lar, makes good business sense. According to the 2009 National San Diego Sheriff’s Detective David Ross articulated that, “Many Prescription Drug Threat Assessment, “heroin distributors who OxyContin® abusers will try heroin at some point. Once the add prescription opioids to their street supplies will ensure conti- nuity in their customer base, particularly as prescription opioid abuser gets over the fear of using needles, heroin becomes the 15 cheaper, more preferred drug.”8 The DEA reported that some abusers realize that heroin is less costly.” OxyContin® users “switch to heroin as they build a tolerance to prescription opioids and seek a more euphoric high.”9 Abuse of other diverted CPDs may also lead to illicit drug Inside This Bulletin: use. Ritalin® and Adderall® are stimulants whose effects are 10 “similar to that of cocaine or methamphetamine when abused.” Diverted Pharmaceuticals & Gang Distribution As a substitute for heroin, addicts dissolve and inject hydromor- 1 phone (Dilaudid®) tablets, which are two to eight times more Los Angeles Area Gangs Trafficking CPDs 1 11 potent than morphine. The Street Drugs Identification Guide Organized Crime Acquisition of OxyContin Flow Chart 2 Los Angeles Joint Drug Office: (800) 732-1943 Intelligence Group (562) 929-9222 12440 E Imperial Hwy. #725 LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE FAX: (562) 409-1210 Norwalk, CA 90650 PAGE 1 LOS ANGELES JOINT DRUG INTELLIGENCE GROUP INTEL BULLETIN LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE Organized Crime Involvement worth (street value) of OxyContin®. While major gangs like 18th Street, Hells Angels, Mara Salva- While most diverted CPDs are OCEs in California Involved in trucha (MS-13), Nazi Low Riders (NLR), and Public Enemy Number Health Care Fraud 16 reportedly acquired through One (PEN1) play a role in trafficking CPDs, their involvement is friends and family, the last few reportedly less significant than black gangs. White gang mem- Russian OCE financiers and Armenian 17 years have seen gangs and organ- OCE health care defrauders are not the bers, a number of whom commit identity theft, generally obtain ized crime entities carving out a only ones in on the action. Reportedly CPDs from less sophisticated diversion techniques such as doctor- larger piece of the narcotics black Nigerian, Filipino, Iranian, and other shopping and prescription fraud, using fake IDs. The source of market through prescription drugs. Middle Eastern organized crime groups diverted CPDs for many black gangs, however, is a highly effi- are involved as well. cient Eurasian organized crime operation.18 According to Sergeant Opfer- * Sergeant Steve Opferman (LASD), Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force man, “In the Los Angeles area, the (HALT), Telephonic Interview, 3/10/10 In one such example recounted by Health Authority Law En- majority of Medicare money goes * FBI Agent, Telephonic Interview, 3/17/10 forcement Task Force (HALT) Team Supervisor Sergeant Steve to Eurasian organized crime groups Opferman (LASD), Russian Organized Criminal Enterprises (OCEs) as a result of fraud.” Out of that majority emerged a “nearly provide financial backing to Armenian OCEs to setup fake medi- 100% profit” crime scheme that leaves a slew of peculiar victims cal clinics with dirty doctors on payroll. “Cappers” recruit Medi- in its wake: Medicare beneficiaries without benefits, CPD deaths care beneficiaries who surrender their medical cards and/or iden- through the use of “safer” drugs, and taxpayers who finance tities for a small fee. Prescriptions written by the clinic’s dirty doc- both. tors are usually filled at non-complicit “Armenian OCEs have been pharmacies, billed to Medicare, and Footnotes for: Gangs in the Identity Theft Business then surrendered by the beneficiaries 1 Health Protection Scotland, Anthrax in Drug Users: Case Definitions Version 5.0, January 13, 2010 associated with massive health 2 “Nationwide Public Health Alert Issued Concerning Life-Threatening Risk Posed by Cocaine Laced with Veteri- care fraud for over twenty to the Armenian OCEs. Finally, the nary Anti-Parasite Drug, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, September 21, 2009 years. A few years ago, after 3 Joseph T. Rannazzisi, Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Agency, May 16, 2007 Armenian OCEs sell the diverted CPDs 4 El Paso Intelligence Center, Tactical Bulletins team, Prescription Drug Abuse, December 10, 2009 Medicare Part D went into ef- to gangs, including MS-13. The great 5 Joseph T. Rannazzisi, Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Agency, May 16, 2007 fect, they added prescription majority, however, ends up in the 6 “The Oxy Epidemic Hitting Close to Home,” San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, August 2009 drugs into their repertoire.” National Prescription Drug Threat Assessment 2009, NDIC, DEA 7 Sergeant Steve Opferman (LASD), hands of black gangs, particularly the