ARCHIVED Drug Market Analysis 2008 Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area NATIONAL DRUG INTELLIGENCE CENTER U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE National Drug Intelligence Center 319 Washington Street 5th Floor, Johnstown, PA 15901-1622 • (814) 532-4601 NDIC publications are available on the following web sites: INTERNET www.usdoj.gov/ndic ADNET http://ndicosa RISS ndic.riss.net LEO https://www.leo.gov/http://leowcs.leopriv.gov/lesig/ndic/index.htm 061208 This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED Product No. 2008-R0813-029 June 2008 Drug Market Analysis 2008 Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area NATIONAL DRUG INTELLIGENCE CENTER U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE This assessment is an outgrowth of a partnership between the NDIC and HIDTA Program for preparation of annual assessments depicting drug trafficking trends and developments in HIDTA Program areas. The report has been coordinated with the HIDTA, is limited in scope to HIDTA jurisdictional boundaries, and draws upon a wide variety of sources within those boundaries. This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED National Drug Intelligence Center This page intentionally left blank. ii This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED ROCKY MOUNTAIN High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area 2008 TABLE OF CON T EN T S Preface ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 Strategic Drug Threat Developments ......................................................................................................... 2 HIDTA Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Drug Threat Overview ............................................................................................................................... 3 Drug Trafficking Organizations .................................................................................................................. 5 Production ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Transportation ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Distribution ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Drug-Related Crime ................................................................................................................................. 10 Abuse ...................................................................................................................................................... 11 Illicit Finance ........................................................................................................................................... 12 Outlook ................................................................................................................................................... 13 Sources .................................................................................................................................................... 14 iii This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED National Drug Intelligence Center This page intentionally left blank. iv This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED ROCKY MOUNTAIN High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area 2008 PREFA C E This assessment provides a strategic overview of the illicit drug situation in the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), highlighting significant trends and law enforcement concerns re- lated to the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs. The report was prepared through detailed analysis of recent law enforcement reporting, information obtained through interviews with law enforcement and public health officials, and available statistical data. The report is designed to provide policymakers, resource planners, and law enforcement officials with a focused discussion of key drug issues and developments facing the Rocky Mountain HIDTA. Del Bonita Whitlash CANADA Whitetail Major City* Roosville Trail Creek Piegan Sweetgrass Wild Horse Willow Creek 500,000 + Kootenai Chief Mountain Turner Morgan Opheim Scobey Raymond National Blackfeet Forest 250,000 - 499,999 FLATHEAD Fort Peck Fort 100,000 - 249,999 15 Rocky Belknap Boys City of Interest Flathead Port of Entry 90 LEWIS Great International Airport AND Falls CLARK Interstate CASCADE MONTANA MISSOULA National Forest Reservation Helena 94 HIDTA County YELLOWSTONE * By Census 2000 Population IDAHO Billings Butte Bozeman 90 Northern Area of Rocky Mountain HIDTA Crow Cheyenne WA ND MT MN 90 SOUTH DAKOTA 90 ORIDAHO SD ID WY 15 IA CAMPBELL NE NV UT CO KS Wind River CA OK 84 AZ NM NATRONA TX Casper 25 WYOMING 84 15 SWEETWATER NEBRASKA 80 ALBANY WEBER Rock Ogden Green LARAMIE Springs Cheyenne 80 DAVIS UINTA River 80 SALT LAKE CITY INTL Salt Lake City LARIMER WELD West Valley City SUMMIT Fort Collins MOFFAT Greeley Skull Valley SALT LAKE ROUTT DENVER INTL 76 Goshute Provo BOULDER Westminster UTAH GRAND Arvada Uintah & Lakewood Denver ADAMS Ouray NEVADA ARAPAHOE 15 GARFIELD EAGLE Aurora 70 UTAH JEFFERSON DOUGLAS 70 KANSAS Colorado MESA EL Springs PASO COLORADO Pueblo 15 PUEBLO WASHINGTON LA 25 Paiute PLATA St. George Ute Navajo Mountain Southern Ute ARIZONA NEW MEXICO OKLAHOMA Figure 1. Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. 1 This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED National Drug Intelligence Center Percocet, and Percodan (oxycodone); Valium ST RA T EGI C DRUG THREA T (hydrocodone); and Lortab (diazepam) are DEVELO P MEN T S widely abused in the region. • Methamphetamine trafficking and abuse pose the primary drug threats to the Rocky Moun- HIDTA OVERVIEW tain HIDTA region, despite declines in local methamphetamine production that have The Rocky Mountain HIDTA encompasses 34 resulted from successful precursor chemical designated counties in Colorado, Montana, Utah, control legislation, law enforcement op- and Wyoming. The region contains large metro- erations, and public awareness campaigns. politan areas as well as expansive, sparsely popu- Mexican drug trafficking organizations lated areas, including public and tribal lands. (See (DTOs) have offset the decline in regional Figure 1 on page 1.) The HIDTA region is located powder methamphetamine production by between major drug source areas in Mexico and supplying significant quantities of high-purity Canada and is linked by interstate highways to ice methamphetamine to the region. major domestic drug markets across the United States. Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado, • Law enforcement officials report an in- and Salt Lake City, Utah, are the three largest met- crease in powder cocaine abuse in the ropolitan areas and serve as distribution centers HIDTA region. Some methamphetamine for other regional drug markets as well as trans- abusers have switched to powder cocaine, shipment points for drugs supplied to markets in which may be due in part to a concerted the Midwest and the eastern United States. public awareness campaign alerting users to the short- and long-term consequences Rural areas in the HIDTA region, including of methamphetamine abuse. 34 national forests, provide traffickers with an opportunity to avoid detection as they engage in • Rising demand for high-potency marijuana illicit activities, such as drug smuggling, cannabis has resulted in increased production of the cultivation and, to a lesser extent, powder meth- drug in the HIDTA region. Some cannabis amphetamine production. Drug smuggling from cultivators in Colorado use state medical Canada through remote areas of the HIDTA region marijuana provisions as a pretext for main- is a particular concern for law enforcement agen- taining illicit grow sites. cies. The 585-mile U.S.–Canada border in Mon- tana has 15 official ports of entry (POEs)1 as well as • The trafficking and abuse of MDMA hundreds of easily accessible, unofficial crossings (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, that are often used by traffickers to transport drugs also known as ecstasy) are increasing in the from Canada into the region using private and com- HIDTA region, particularly in the Denver mercial vehicles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), snow- area. Asian DTOs and criminal groups are mobiles, private aircraft, and couriers who trans- smuggling increasing amounts of MDMA port the drugs on foot. For example, the Kootenai from Canada and California for regional and National Forest, located on the U.S.–Canada border nationwide distribution. in northwestern Montana and northeastern Idaho— • The distribution and abuse of diverted commonly referred to as “The Yaak”—is often used pharmaceutical drugs pose a significant and by drug smugglers because of the many off-road increasing threat in some areas of the HIDTA routes and packing trails that cross the border. region. Law enforcement officials report that prescription