Report: Mexican traffickers cement grip in US

[March 26, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mexican criminal organizations have more than doubled heroin production in a year and have cemented their grip as the predominant wholesale suppliers of illicit drugs in the United States, a government report concluded Thursday.

The National Drug Threat Assessment found that Mexican groups were the only drug trafficking enterprises operating in every region of the United States.

The study by a unit of the Justice Department says Mexican traffickers increased the flow of heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States, while they increased production of those drugs in Mexico.

The reach of Mexican drug operations comes with the availability of illicit drugs in the United States on the rise, the report said.

In 2009, the prevalence was increasing in some areas of the United States for four of the five major drugs: heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and MDMA.

Cocaine shortages persisted in many markets as they have since 2007 due to decreased cocaine production in Colombia, increased worldwide demand for cocaine in Europe and elsewhere, and enhanced counterdrug efforts by the Mexican government.

Heroin production in Mexico rose from 17 pure metric tons in 2007 to 38 pure metric tons in 2008, with the increase translating to lower heroin prices and more heroin-related overdoses and more overdose deaths, according to government estimates in the report by the National Drug Intelligence Center.

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On the Net:

http://www.justice.gov/ndic/
pubs38/38661/index.htm

[Associated Press]

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