From the Department of Justice:
>>National Drug Intelligence Center
National Drug Threat Assessment 2001 - The Domestic Perspective
October 2000
Heroin
Heroin produced in South America, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Southwest Asia is
available in the United States. Nearly half of the available heroin in the United States
comes from South America. Colombian organizations control the cultivation of opium
poppy and the production of South American heroin, which occur primarily in Colombia.
They, along with associated Dominican groups, are primarily responsible for transportation
as well as wholesale and retail distribution. Both Mexican brown powdered and black tar
heroin are preferred in the western United States and in portions of the Midwest. Mexican
organizations control production and transportation as well as wholesale and retail
distribution of both forms of Mexican heroin. Southeast Asian heroin is encountered much
less frequently than either South American or Mexican heroin. Opium poppy is cultivated
and Southeast Asian heroin processed in a common border area of Burma, Laos, and
Thailand. Nigerian and ethnic Chinese groups are primarily responsible for smuggling
Southeast Asian heroin into the United States and for wholesale and retail distribution.
Southwest Asian heroin is the least frequently encountered form of heroin in the United
States. Although large quantities of heroin are produced in Southwest Asia, primarily
Afghanistan, little is destined for the United States. A variety of groups are involved in
importing Southwest Asian heroin into the United States, while many different groups,
including Albanian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerian, Pakistani, Palestinian, and Serbian groups
are all involved in the actual smuggling and wholesale distribution. Palestinian groups, as
well as Dominican and Puerto Rican organizations, often sell Southwest Asian heroin at the
retail level. <<
usdoj.gov |
