If you have issues viewing or accessing this file, please contact us at NCJRS.gov. ] ................... o i ~ ~ ; : • ;~ . .......... i :~ :- ;:: 2. ' . ") , k : of National Drug C~rn;trol Nlicy tire Office of the President nber 2004 -~ ~" ._U~ > 7.5 The National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program Annual Report 2004 EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY Washington, D.C. 20503 December 13, 2004 Greetings: It is my pleasure to welcome those gathered for the seventh annual High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Conference in Washington, D.C. This past year, the HIDTA program continued to bring federal, state and local law enforcement together to make a measurable difference in disrupting the market for illegal drugs. Investigations into high level traffickers and seizures that disrupt drug trafficking organizations remain the hallmark of the program. A precondition of the HIDTA program being effective is the ability to get federal, state and local law enforcement to work together in a coordinated fashion. This in turn enhances the security of our country from threats both foreign and domestic, and serves as a model for other agencies. Tile coming year will see the introduction of the Performance Management Program (PMP), which will allow each of you to better measure the efficiency of your respective efforts. Also, we will have in place a financial database system to better facilitate the use of resources allocated to each HIDTA. As we gather to honor the achievements of individuals, groups and HIDTAs, I thank you for your fine work and wish you the best in the year ahead as we work together to disrupt the market for illegal drugs in our great Nation. Sincerely, Director Tablte of Conte Overview 1 High ~ntensity Drug Trafficking Area Map 3 Appalachia HIDTA 5 Atlanta HII)TA 10 Central Florida HII)TA 15 Central Valley California H~DTA 20 Chicago HH)TA 25 Gulf Coast HII)TA 29 Hawaii HH)TA 34 Houston H~DTA 39 Lake County HH)TA 44 Los Angeles HIDTA 49 Michigan HII)TA 54 Midwest H~DTA 58 Milwaukee HNDTA 63 Nevada HIIDTA 68 New England HIII)TA 72 North Florida H IDTA 78 North Texas HJDTA 83 Northern California HH)TA 87 Northwest HIIDTA 92 New York/New Jersey HH)TA 97 Ohio H~DTA 102 Oregon HII)TA 106 Philadelphia/Camden HHDTA III Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin ~slands HIDTA 116 Rocky ~,~ountain HIII)TA 122 South Florida Hll)TA 127 Southwest Border HJDTA 132 Arizona Regional Partnership 132 California Regional Partnership 137 New Mexico Regional Partnership 142 South Texas Regional Partnership 147 West Texas Regional Partnership 152 Washington/Baltimore H ~DTA 157 2004 National H~DTA Program Awards 165 Overview Office of National Drug Control Policy High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program: The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and the ONDCP Reauthorization Act of 1998 authorized the Director of The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to designate areas within the United States which exhibit serious drug trafficking problems and harmfully impact other areas of the country as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA). The HIDTA Program provides additional federal resources to those areas to help eliminate or reduce drug trafficking and its harmful consequences. Law enforcement organizations within HIDTAs assess drug trafficking problems and design specific initiatives to reduce or eliminate the production, manufacture, transportation, distribution and chronic use of illegal drugs and money laundering. When designating a new HIDTA, the Director of ONDCP consults with the Attorney General, Secretary of the Treasury, heads of national drug control agencies and the appropriate governors and considers the following statutory criteria: The extent to which the area is a center of illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution; The extent to which state and local law enforcement agencies have committed resources to respond to the drug trafficking problem in the area, thereby indicating a determination to respond aggressively to the problem; O The extent to which drug-related activities in the area are having a harmful impact in other areas of the country; and The extent to which a significant increase in the allocation of federal resources is necessary to respond adequately to drug-related activities in the area. The HIDTA Program helps improve the effectiveness and efficiency of drug control efforts by facilitating cooperation between drug control organizations through resource and information sharing, collocating and implementing joint initiatives. HIDTA funds help federal, state and local law enforcement organizations invest in infrastructure and joint initiatives to confront drug- trafficking organizations. Funds are also used for demand reduction and drug treatment initiatives. The key priorities of the Program are: o Assess regional drug threats; o Design strategies to focus efforts that combat drug trafficking threats; o Develop and fund initiatives to implement strategies; • Facilitate coordination between federal, state and local efforts; to Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of drug control efforts to reduce or eliminate the harmful impact of drug trafficking. Each HIDTA is governed by its own Executive Board comprised of approximately 16 members--eight federal members and eight state or local members. These Boards facilitate interagency drug control efforts to eliminate or reduce drug threats. The Executive Boards ensure threat specific strategies and initiatives are developed, employed, supported and evaluated. HIDTA-designated counties comprise approximately 13 percent of U.S. counties, they are present in 43 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. The following 28 areas are designated as HIDTAs: 1990: Houston, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, South Florida and Southwest Border (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas); 1994: Washington/Baltimore (Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia) and Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands; ® 1995: Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia/Camden; ® 1996: Rocky Mountain (Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming), Gulf Coast (Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi), Lake County (Indiana), Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota) and Northwest (Washington State); 1997: Southeastern Michigan (subsequently, portions of western Michigan) and Northern California; 1998: Appalachia (Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia), Central Florida, Milwaukee and North Texas (Texas and Oklahoma); and o 1999: Central Valley California, Hawaii, New England (Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont), Ohio and Oregon. e 2001: North Florida and Nevada. ~0 •.... ~ ~-~o ~°~= '~ 0 '~= o ~ o-~ =5 o ~o 0"" \ :>---.,_ ca ~ ..~ .~. © a ,,,,J0 © o Z r. i o o f . o 0 o ei © o ~o f 4~ ~c o ~" ~e o ___'x7 ~u x .~ 0 E ~o O) ~.~ ~ oo ~0 © ' r',~i ~/_e J . IilO ~ .., TA ~O~!~PH~C ~R~t ~F' I~gSPO.JXS!R!tJT¥.', Rcntl~'k~.'. Adair, Bell, Breathitt, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Floyd, Harlan, Jackson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lee, Leslie, McCreary, Magoffin, Marion, Monroe, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Taylor, Warren, Wayne, and Whitley counties; Bledsoe, Campbell, Claiborne, Clay, Cocke, Cumberland, Fentress, Franklin, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Macon, Marion, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Rhea, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Unicoi, Van Buren, and White counties; Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Gihner, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, McDowell, Mingo, and Wayne counties. ¢@~TACfe (606) 877-2100 M/'tSSdON S1;A TEM"&VT; and non-HIDTA funded resources. The mission of" the Appalachia HIDTA is to reduce measurably, and particularly as it Marijuana is the number one cash crop in the relates to marijuana, the production and three states that comprise the Appalachia trafficking of illegal drugs in its immediate HIDTA. The states of Kentucky, Tennessee, area, to reduce drag-related violent crime in and West Virginia, with less than foul percent the region, and to reduce the impact that of the total U.S. population, produced 34.5 H IDTA drug production and trafficking have percent of the domestic marijuana supply in on other areas of the United States. Although 2003 (measured in total eradicated plants). marijuana is its primary focus, the Appalachia Regional marijuana usage rates are generally H IDTA responds to the threat posed by the below the national average, indicating that the illicit traffic of other drugs as required. vast majority of marijuana cultivated in the Central to this mission is the expansion of HIDTA is destined for markets in other cooperative, multi-jurisdictional law regions of the country, and that the enforcement etTorts involving H I DTA funded Appalachia HIDTA continues to represent a have worked together to coordinate drug major drug threat to the United States. suppression activities throughout the sixty- eight designated counties, six United States Much of the marijuana produced in the Attorneys Offices, seven federal, seventeen Appalachia HIDTA is grown on public land. state, 43 local agencies, two National Forests, Marijuana growers in the Appalachia HIDTA and two National Parks. By balancing efforts intrude upon the Daniel Boone and Cherokee to attack drug trafficking at every layer, and National Forests and the Great Smoky coordinating non-enforcement efforts in Mountain and Big South Fork National Parks, targeted communities, the Appalachia HIDTA as well as lands owned by the Tennessee