NCJ Number
227612
Date Published
April 2009
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This report provides an overview of the illicit drug situation in the Central Valley California, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), highlighting significant trends and law enforcement concerns related to the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs.
Abstract
The trafficking and abuse of methamphetamine, primarily ice methamphetamine, pose the most significant drug threats in the Central Valley (California) High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region, which consists of 10 counties: Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Stanislaus, and Tulare. Methamphetamine is reported to be the drug that most contributes to violent crime and property crime in the HIDTA region. Illicit drug abuse levels are high in the region, particularly for ice methamphetamine. In addition, cannabis cultivation operations are extensive and increasing in magnitude throughout the HIDTA region. Within the HIDTA region, Mexican and, to a lesser extent, Asian drug trafficking organizations are the primary drug traffickers. The Central Valley HIDTA region is a national-level transshipment center for illicit drugs smuggled to, through, and from the HIDTA region to United States drug markets. The threat posed by the trafficking and abuse of ice methamphetamine will not diminish in the near-term and will remain the most significant drug threat to the Central Valley HIDTA region, and the HIDTA region will remain one of the most significant cannabis cultivation and marijuana production areas in the Nation. Figures, tables, and sources