Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

DEA-DOJ Drug Threat Assessment 2015

Lucio R. Borderland Beat material from Threat Assessment Report
Map of Mexican Cartels areas of influence or conflict-Click any image to enlarge
DEA and the  Department of Justice, released its 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment, see below embedded in its entirety (148 pages).

In its report, the NDTAS states that Baja California and its border continues to traffic the most drugs coming into and being transported throughout the U.S. and by the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) led by Joaquin "El Chapo” Guzman. 

On the Pacific Coast, up through the northwest with nexus into Canada, heroin and meth make up the greatest drug threat.

Listed in the report are cartels of Mexico, Colombia, Dominican and Asia, with a listing of drugs of abuse.  This extensive report addresses most  areas of interest pertaining to cartel activity in the U.S.


Interesting read;  is the trafficking activities plus U.S. locations of activity and operational structure of cartels. (other than Mexican cartels).  Beginning  on page 4 of the report.


Cities Highlighted (Pages 3-4):

Mexican TCOs pose the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group is currently positioned to challenge them. These Mexican poly-drug organizations traffic heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana throughout the United States, using established transportation routes and distribution networks. They control drug trafficking across the Southwest Border and are moving to expand their presence in the United States, particularly in heroin markets.

Boston, Massachusetts: Many of the local distribution groups are increasingly dealing with and receiving cocaine directly from Mexican organizations based in states such as Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

Chicago, Illinois: Mexican TCOs pose the most significant threat. During 2014, Mexican organizations continued to dominate the wholesale distribution of cocaine, methamphetamine, Mexico-produced marijuana, and heroin (both Mexican black tar and South American heroin) in Chicago.
Los Angeles, California: Mexican TCOs use the Los Angeles area as a strategic hub to facilitate the movement of drugs north and west, while also using Los Angeles for the subsequent smuggling of drug proceeds in the form of bulk cash back to Mexico

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Mexican TCOs are showing increasing interest in establishing distribution hubs in northeastern US cities such as Philadelphia. Intelligence indicates these TCOs may wish to bypass traditional hubs in the southeastern United States due to law enforcement pressure.

The CJNG (CJNG leadership had not been designated as a CPOT as of November 2014, therefore it is not depicted on this map) is quickly becoming one of the most powerful TCOs in Mexico and in some cases rivals Sinaloa Cartel trafficking operations in Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The CJNG by virtue of its growing power continues to expand its trafficking operations to the United States, with law enforcement increasingly reporting CJNG members and associates as sources of supply for drugs in the United States. Los Cuinis, an affiliate group of CJNG, provided the initial funding to facilitate the rise of CJNG. (Pages 2-3)


The United States cartel operational drug map shown in this fall report,  is the same Borderland Beat published months ago and is  from the DEA report of last spring.  

Mexican Cartels operating in the U.S.

In 2014, based on active law enforcement cases, the following major Mexican TCOs are operating in the United States: the Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO), New Generation Jalisco Cartel (Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación or CJNG) the Los Cuinis, Gulf Cartel (Cartel del Golfo or CDG), Juarez Cartel, Michoacán Family (La Familia Michoacána or LFM), Knights Templar (Los Caballeros Templarios or LCT), Los Zetas, and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Trafficking Methods

Mexican TCOs transport the bulk of their drugs over the Southwest Border through ports of entry (POEs) using passenger vehicles or tractor trailers. The drugs are typically secreted in hidden compartments when transported in passenger vehicles or comingled with legitimate goods when transported in tractor trailers. Once across the Southwest Border, the drugs are transported to stash houses in hub cities such as Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, and then transported via these same conveyances to distribution groups in the Midwest and on the East Coast.

Mexican TCOs also smuggle drugs across the Southwest Border using other methods. Marijuana is occasionally trafficked through subterranean tunnels connected to a network of safe houses on both the Mexico and the US sides of the border. Mexican TCOs also transport marijuana via commercial cargo trains and on small boats, often referred to as “pangas,” from the West Coast of Baja California north to the central California coast. Finally, Mexican TCOs have also transported drugs across the Southwest Border using ultralight aircraft.

Mexican Traffickers Moving Into Suburban and Rural Areas
Law enforcement reporting indicates some Mexican trafficking organizations within the United States are relocating from major metropolitan areas to establish bases of operation in suburban or rural areas. Traffickers are relocating because they feel they can better conceal their operations in an area where law enforcement does not expect to find large trafficking organizations operating or are not accustomed to dealing with such organizations. The relocation also makes it difficult for large federal law enforcement agencies to target these organizations because the traffickers are removed from the federal agencies’ bases of operation in large cities. This trend has been noted by law, enforcement in Dallas, San Francisco, eastern Washington State, western Colorado, and parts of North Carolina.

Interesting read is the trafficking activities plus U.S. locations of activity and operational structure of cartels. (other than Mexican cartels).  Beginning  on page 4 of the report.

Executive summary:  

The 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) is a comprehensive assessment of the threat posed to the United States by the tracking and use of illicit drugs. The drug section of this report is arranged in ranking order based on the level of threat each drug presents. The threat level for each drug is determined by strategic analysis of the domestic drug situation during 2014, based on law enforcement, intelligence, and public health data available for the period. For instance, each day in the United States, over 120 people die as a result of a drug overdose. 

Above: Cartels and related gangs
In particular, the number of deaths attributable to controlled prescription drugs (CPDs) has outpaced those for cocaine and heroin combined. Additionally, some opioid CPD abusers are initiating heroin use, which contributes to the increased demand for and use of heroin. For these reasons, CPDs and heroin are ranked as the most significant drug threats to the United States. Fentanyl and its analogs are responsible for more than 700 deaths across the United States between late 2013 and late 2014. While fentanyl is often abused in the same manner as heroin, it is much more potent. Methamphetamine distribution and abuse significantly contribute to violent and property crime rates in the United States. Further, cocaine distributors and users seek out methamphetamine as an alternative as cocaine availability levels decline. 

While marijuana is the most widely available and commonly used illicit drug and remains illegal under federal law, many states have passed legislation approving the cultivation, possession, and use of the drug within their respective states. Marijuana concentrates, with potency levels far exceeding those of leaf marijuana, pose an issue of growing concern. Finally, the threat posed by synthetic designer drugs continues to impact many segments of the American population, particularly youth. A full discussion for each of these drugs cannot be undertaken without first examining the criminal groups that supply these substances to distributors and users in the United States.

Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group can challenge them in the near term. These Mexican poly-drug organizations traffic heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana throughout the United States, using established transportation routes and distribution networks. They control drug trafficking across the Southwest Border and are moving to expand their share of US illicit drug markets, particularly heroin markets. National-level gangs and neighborhood gangs continue to form relationships with Mexican TCOs to increase profits for the gangs through drug distribution and transportation, for the enforcement of drug payments, and for protection of drug transportation corridors from use by rival gangs. 

Many gangs rely on Mexican TCOs as their primary drug source of supply, and Mexican TCOs depend on street-level gangs, many of which already have a customer base, for drug distribution.

Drug overdose deaths have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States. Each day in the United States, over 120 people die as a result of a drug overdose. The number of drug poisoning deaths in 2013, the latest year for which data is available, involving opioid analgesics (16,235) is substantial and outpaces the number of deaths for cocaine and heroin combined (13,201). While recent data suggest that abuse of these drugs has lessened in some areas, the number of individuals reporting current abuse of CPDs is more than those reporting use of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA, and phencyclidine (PCP) combined. With the slightly declining abuse levels of CPDs, data indicate there is a corresponding increase in heroin use. Some opioid CPD abusers begin using heroin as a cheaper alternative to the high price of illicit CPDs or when they are unable to obtain prescription drugs.

The threat posed by heroin in the United States is serious and has increased since 2007. Heroin is available in larger quantities, used by a larger number of people, and is causing an increasing number of overdose deaths. Increased demand for, and use of, heroin is being driven by both increasing availability of heroin in the US market and by some opioid CPD abusers using heroin. CPD abusers who begin using heroin do so chiefly because of price differences, but also because of availability, and the reformulation of OxyContin®, a commonly abused prescription opioid.

Refer to embedded document for the complete report:

Table of contents: 
click to enlarge


72 comments:

  1. CDS controls Los Mochis now. Chapo was staying in Los Mochis when he escaped prison. This map is total bs. Chapito Isidro has been hiding out for a long time, he doesnt control that area anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. willie you have to stop just looking at the images. it says the map is old.

      Delete
    2. ps
      not saying you are right, just saying you did not read the post

      Delete
    3. chapito Isidro isn't the only head in BLO but they got arrested for the most part right?

      Delete
    4. i thought chapo trini was BLO....too many chapos...im getting confused

      Delete
    5. los mochis is belong Los Ivans...sicarios del Ivan Guzman y sicarios del Chapo Guzman

      Delete
    6. If you watch your own personal "el chaparro" you may get scared...
      "ve a verte 'el chaparro' pues..." mexican slang for the 'overthere'...chaparro...|;=●)

      Delete
  2. Deja Vu all over again, or is it just me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You and me both, total deja vu.

      Delete
    2. Deja Vu all over again, Yogi Berra would be so happy he would die all over again...

      Delete
    3. 12:15 PM...Naturally:-)

      Delete
    4. It is not over until chivis sings...

      Delete
  3. You know your readers Lucio. thoughtful overview, pulling out items of interest for BB readers so we don't have to trek through 184 pages.

    Too bad they could not have updated the Mexico cartel map, as you state it is the duplicate of last spring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting how cocaine is way down and herion skyrocketed last couple of years in their graph.Is it because cocaine use waned or is it because they purposely didn't supply it causing it to wane and introduced something with more profit that they can control and grow from A to Z creating a market when there wasn't much before?

      Delete
    2. @4:10 heroin use skyrocketed when prescription opiates suddenly became unavailable due to a tightening of controls over them

      Delete
    3. That's a good theory. I think that cocaine is down because it's being sent to more profitable markets; Europe, Australia, Asia. Coca can't be grown everywhere like marijuana and opium. There is more demand than there is supply, that's why it's all either cut to crap or super expensive.

      Delete
    4. What is also interesting is the fact that while prescription drug abuse exhibited a continuous decline over the years, heroin use (as you have said) is skyrocketing..

      Delete
    5. Don't have an answer for you, Canadiana, but have heard that "mixing & matching" heroin w/ meth is popular; so is using Fentanyl with meth. Used Fentanyl patches get "cooked up" mixed with heroin and/or meth. I thought I'd heard it all, before, until I heard the bit about the used patches...yuk. Such madness. LEGALIZE the shit, all of it. Get some programs funded that can actually help people.

      Delete
    6. 3:37 and 6:15 are probably both right and I have to blame the real drug dealers [Big Pharma] for introducing Oxy.They said when it was 1st introduced it was less addictive than other opiates,yeah BS.

      Delete
    7. There are billions of dollars for programs to help, for programs to research, and millions and millions wanted by crooks trying to squeeze the government, many times allied with chicago aldermen... I mean city councils and "activistas" for human rights and services...a few men dead by gunshots or whatever helps, they also have shares of funeral homes that welcome "the business" of decent humane burials and funerals...
      --they lost soo much when Osama Bin Laden got dropped to swim with the fishes...

      Delete
    8. Methadone dispensaries were providing free meth to make it easy for heroin addicts to leave the needles and the H, they just got another cheaper and addictive monkey on their backs, some people were even selling their Dolophine, then went to making it in their own home stove top labs, stealing medicines from stores and pharmacies... screw the "dientes negros..."
      --The taliban used only ass whippings to help the traffickers and the addicts, that outlawlessness was not to be tolerated, then the US took over to restore heroin production and it's popularity on the US...just like under the vietnamese warrior warlords, contaminating the best purposes in the world...to make benefit for a few amerikkkan chickenhawk global vulture capitalistas...

      Delete
    9. Herion has increased since the US invaded Afganistan and took opium production from 8% to 80% of global supply. And soilders are still guarding to poppy fields. This war is about oil and herion US knew how to set up the explosion of dope like they did in the 80's with cocaine. The CIA is the real cartel.

      Delete
    10. 8:38- the fentanyl they are referring to is clandestinely made in labs. Doesn't come from used up patches.

      Delete
    11. 12:04 AM -I live in Needle Park, the used patches are boiled, strained, whatever and used in a syringe. True story. Disgusting? Yep.

      Delete
    12. Methadone is not without its controversy and is cited by some as merely a "replacement" drug. Methadone tells the brain it's heroin, and is taken daily. In Ontario, Canada, the pharmacies which dispense methadone receive $40 per dosage from the provincial ministry of health; the addicts pay a fee of $2 for their "drinks." The methadone dispensary is separate from the rest of the store as a security measure, this is rather costly to set up. These addicts, who have access to methadone are in treatment programs and receive what's called "Social Assistance" in Canada, or $563 CAD monthly to cover housing, food and methadone costs. The downside to methadone is it destroys your kidneys, shuts down other parts of your brain and shatters your teeth. Addiction is a life sentence, there is no easy out. There are addicts in recovery for years who know the risks involved, but, who are afraid they will start using again, if they stop taking the methadone morning cocktail. IMO There needs to be serious funding for neurological studies on addiction and better treatment(s). We know some of the causes, ones that derive from poor choices, which are influenced by traumatic, past events. Why then, do many, many people who have suffered trauma, not go down that road to drug use? People like this are said to have "trauma resistant personalities." Why? How much self loathing does a person have to have to pick up the needle? What is truly critical at the moment is how young many addicts in methadone treatment are--highschoolers, there abouts. This provokes two sentiments--crucify the dealers, then, change some laws that decriminalize specific drug behaviours, legalize pot and tax it. We need to lose the 1950's Leave It To Beaver frame of reference for a public health problem that is as serious as HIV AIDS. We also need to lose the attitude about what amounts to a societal cancer. Salud!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. CAF is more of a crew than a cartel...

      Delete
    2. Yea don't get me wrong caf Is around but it's like a clan not a cartel anymore.

      Delete
    3. CAF IS POWER quit hating

      Delete
    4. La Bamba Rebelde con La Cafetera/youtube
      I don't know if there is a relation...

      Delete
  5. Y los Arellano Felix apa?
    Mijo they are dead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pobre ignorante sigue pensando en lo k te haga feliz. Una maña nunca se acaba de la noche a la mañana.

      Delete
  6. Badiraguato is Beltran leyva???what??

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ok. So I keep on reading that chapo is the king pin but they keep catching others from diferent cartels.well I guess he is the king pin because nobody is trying to catch him, Mayo, or elAzul. Makes sense to me. Until they catch the queen then the bees will sworm lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, the queen of mexican drug traffickino right now is enrique peña nieto, presidente de mexico, head of the atracomulco cartel, the los pinos cartel, in charge until carlos salinas de gortari can be restored as chief drug trafficking queen of the narco-republic again, maybe after presidente manlio fabio beltrones, aka "la muñeca", aka "la fabis" makes it a law...

      Delete
    2. Las Reinas Del Sur lol

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. 12:09 pos te moviste, güey, no le saques...

      Delete
  9. Chapo riders say...Chapo is the greatest drug lord of all time....He rules Mexico.....He is the master of the universe ....Chapo this and Chapo that. But yet he doesn't even dominate his home state. BLO spanking lil brothers ass. That's some funny shit right there. CDS huggers chime in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. El gran señor Ingeniero who discovered another outer space dimension, Don El Chapo, gave up la Gloria por el infierno...
      --he lets his state roll free a little bit, to take over the national level stage, working now with "gentlemen" like el lazca hiding on a miguel angel osorio chong rancho en pachuca hidalgo...that mattaphakkka genghis chong really wants to be president and first emperor of the KAACHING-CHONG CHAN DYNASTY de mexico...

      Delete
    2. Just the sight of Osorio Chong in a foto makes my skin crawl, he emanates evil.

      Delete
    3. 10:16 It will take a while to get used to his mug, from there to falling in love with the beast will take just a little step, "no great leap forward" but many steps backwards...
      --it is not like "KAACHING-CHONG CHANG, aka genghis chong" is too much into "asking", that is why he got to be secretario de gobernacion, and got the Mando Unico of all the poolice and armies that do his every whim...headed by viejo pedorro carcamal giniral Cienpedos who is too old, and will never see a human rights trial by the time he is blamed for the "excesses" of the mexican armies and marinas...

      Delete
    4. @8:03 AM, don't doubt a thing you're saying about Ding Dong Kaa'ching, he is the deadly parasite in the bowels of the beast. Does he link to S. Asian crime organizations? Tongs--biz associatioons--don't possess the clout he wields, imo, he'd have to be tied directly to Triad, or someone who has its protections.

      Delete
  10. i dont care who sells what . these guys dont make money off me . nor do i cross that border anymore .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you don't have to cross the border but i would bet good money you buy your drugs (Tylenol) from the gran cartel de Johnson &Johnson...

      Delete
    2. Just Say No.. Nancy, is that you? lol

      Delete
    3. Damn youths of today have come a long way baby! Since smoking rolled up pages from their notebooks...
      --I think them damn youths of today are having too much Sunday allowances and lunch money, they need to carry paper bags and tragar at home, let's declare war on children's allowances and lunch money, instead on increasing the minimum wages; walmart and politicians would 👍 agree and make that laws...

      Delete
    4. Ooops, mexico is already carrying on a war against children, on the school front, on health care, on school lunches, on their parents and on their allowances...
      --The mexican pooliticians are always at the forefront of opportunity...

      Delete
  11. Nice work putting this together. thanks BB

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bien lechoso con esta noticia neta

    ReplyDelete
  13. Chapo guzman a true boss he became bigger than escobar all sinaloa belongs to him only reason he wount attack navolato o mochis is because theres were arturos beltran family and amado carrillo fuentes live he has much respect to both of them
    -Russian Girl -

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah Russian Girl Chapo Guzman truly respect the Beltran Leyva's so much he had Alfredo arrested and Arturo killed. The same goes for Carrillo Fuentes when Chapo had Rodolfo killed. Chapo doesn't enter BLO and CF controlled area because he would get his dick kicked in the dirt. When will you CDS lovers realize that the CDS is slowly but surely losing its terroritory to their rival cartels. Before long CDS will only control Baja and Sonora if they are lucky. The writing is on the wall you just have to read it. Shortly Guzman's mojo isn't working like it use to end of story.

      Delete
    2. 10:26 well you have a good point carrillos ,beltrans ,and cds at the end of they day they are sinaloense , its like putting 3 alpa male lions to figth each other in cage the figth can go either way but i agree more whit russian girl i think he respects them

      Delete
    3. 10:26 all lies made up by a drug trafficking narco-government bent on stealing their "bread and butter" back from the "encargados" mexican drug trafficking kingpins...
      ...and surprise, the Red Russian Polar Bears are here, I hope you are not Putin's double-double disinformation agent russian girl, and don't start cooking on pressure cookers ok? Boiling Water Waterboarding is not ok either..use only ice cold water...welcome to the US russian girl...

      Delete
    4. He is nothing close to what Pablo was. Pablo made $60million a day. And had a whole country scared of him. Till chapo builds his own prison he's will be second. Pablo was worth $30billion. Not including the $20billion found hidden in caves and that was buried.

      Delete
    5. Bulksh't 2:59PM. There's no f'cking cave with el Paisa shithead's billions. Ask his kid. The revisionist history about Escobar's getting old.

      Delete
  14. If they had spent half the money spent on this report alone, they could have caught one big drug money laundering fish at least...
    Too many reports, too little results...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One copy of the report weighs 8 kilos at least.

      Delete
    2. Traffick them goldbricks, 8 keys worth'll get ya 10 shrieking F bombs & a cup a coffee. It's the deal of a century...

      Delete
  15. Lol the DEA contradict themselves so much. They always have said Nogales is Chapo's favourite border crossing even though it's small and he controls it. Also it says that La Tuna, Chapo's hometown is under BLO control hahah. Still a good post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The fact that BLO controls half of Sinaloa all that territory where mexicos most powerful cartel is also in nearby areas and almost surrounds BLO says a lot about how powerful they really are.

      Delete
  16. "Baja California and its border continues to traffic the most drugs coming into and being transported throughout the U.S. and by the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) led by Joaquin "El Chapo” Guzman. " This bit brought to mind a BB article posted a little while, ago, about the State Department being "invited" in a letter from the Governor/Mayor to send expert crime fighters to Baja to show the authorities in Baja how to free the area from crime. Why does ALL of this seem like a set up?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because friend and foe agree that the US has bigger pockets to pick, full of money too, and of bread crumbs and table scraps for those more apt at getting "it", and with help of lobbyists and the malinchistas they get more than their fair shark share...

      Delete
    2. Blackwater Worldwide is expanding from ISIS battlefields to baja gas tanks deposits, they are always making their little private wars for some budget money...
      --They are expecting to "earn" about 15 billion dollars from their efforts in drug control at the US/mexico border...
      --and Blackwater Worldwide gets to also control drug trafficking, to kill two rocks with one bird, how's about that?
      --i wonder if Blackwater Worldwide winded baja governor "piece of shit" to ask the US for help and assistance, and 'manpower', on the american taxpayer bill, ok? The mexican governing narco-mierdocracia does not have the pesos, much less the dollars for a such an envergada operation...

      Delete
    3. 10:12 am. Sing out! You got it!

      Delete
  17. Y puro ncdj la raya sigue abansando

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hey guys just got a video of some guys torturing a dude a tablazos its commonly used by zetas although not sure if these guys are zetas or not cus of the license plates how do i pass you guys the video

    ReplyDelete
  19. Chivis el aumentó de la violencia en Jalisco en especial en la capital de Guadalajara es porque los BeltraneZ ya entraron a pelear la plaza al CJNG se van a poner feas las cosas la guerra por Guadalajara es un nuevo capítulo de la guerra entre carteles y esto es solo el comienzo.

    Chivis deberías de checar varias paginas al igual de canales de youtube como la violencia disparo de un día al otro en Guadalajara.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Grenade attack kills five family members near Chilpancingo, GRO:

    http://www.milenio.com/policia/Polixtepec_Guerrero-muertos_Polixtepec-violencia_Guerrero-narco_Polixtepec_0_633536775.html

    Background:

    http://www.milenio.com/policia/Guerra_de_narcos_incomunica_poblado-incomunicados_por_lucha_entre_narcos_0_633536683.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. So what are the States, in the U.S., with the most users?

    ReplyDelete
  22. This is a great collaboration of information. It is not hard to see how the supply of heroin has increased as well as the numbers of those addicted to it. It gives hope to know that for those who seek recovery from heroin and other addictive substances that there is help available.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.
Envía fotos, vídeos, notas, enlaces o información
Todo 100% Anónimo;

borderlandbeat@gmail.com