Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Trends

Alcohol and Drug Treatment Trends
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Centers Florida

Drug Trends Florida

Club Drugs
MDMA is the most readily available dangerous drug throughout Florida. LSD remains available, however seizures are rare. GHB is also readily available in Florida, especially in and around colleges and universities. MDMA is found at rave parties in all parts of Florida and is frequently used in conjunction with other illegal and/or prescription drugs. GHB is commonly abused in Florida, as well as two precursors - GBL and Butanediol (BD).

Cocaine
Cocaine is readily available in multi-kilogram amounts throughout Florida and remains the primary drug of choice. South American trafficking organizations dominate the importation and distribution of cocaine in Florida. Smuggling via the use of go-fast vessels and pleasure craft, primarily from The Bahamas, and commercial cargo remains the biggest trafficking threat in the MFD. The Caribbean serves as a major transit zone for cocaine from Central and South America into Florida. Mexican nationals continue to be the primary cocaine distribution groups throughout the Florida Panhandle. These groups transport their cocaine in passenger vehicles from the U.S. southwest border areas. Miami is the primary source for the cocaine found in the Jacksonville area. Couriers transport the drug via Interstate-95 from South Florida. The vast majority of the cocaine available in Fort Myers and Naples comes from Miami via couriers in private automobiles utilizing Interstate-75. Interdiction arrests and seizures indicate that traffickers from Sarasota to Tampa are also utilizing Interstate-75 from Miami.

Crack Cocaine
Crack cocaine continues to be available throughout Florida and remains a drug of choice for many throughout the state. Cocaine HCl powder from sources in Miami continues to be converted into crack in other areas of the state. Local conversion of cocaine powder into crack makes it highly available in southwest and northern Florida. Crack cocaine remains a problem statewide in lower socio-economic areas. Crack cocaine is the most serious drug problem in the Orlando area and abuse remains high. Most of the cocaine HCl brought into the Orlando area is converted into crack. After being converted to crack, the cocaine is sold locally in the Orlando metropolitan area and transported northward to Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and the Atlantic coast areas of the U.S. Cocaine, both crack and HCl, are readily available throughout the Jacksonville area, however crack cocaine poses the most serious threat to the region. The distribution and usage of crack is linked to an extensive amount of criminal activity and has placed economic burdens on the community. Cocaine is regularly transported to Jacksonville in private and commercial vehicles along Interstate-95 from South Florida. The cocaine is either converted into crack and distributed, or is broken down, adulterated and sold to drug distribution organizations based in northeast Florida, South Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas.

Heroin
Heroin remains readily available throughout Florida, with the highest concentrations in the southern and central parts of the state. MIA is a major gateway for South American heroin distribution throughout the northeast United States. The primary method in which South American heroin is smuggled into Florida is through the use of couriers on commercial flights. The couriers ingest the heroin in quantities up to 1 kilogram.
South American heroin is prevalent in the Tampa Bay area. Sources of supply are predominantly from Miami and Orlando. The vast majority of heroin in the Fort Myers area is supplied from Miami and transported overland in multi-ounce quantities by couriers. Most of the heroin activity in Fort Myers/Naples is street-level. Heroin is a serious drug problem in the Orlando metropolitan area. The majority of the heroin in Central Florida is South American in origin, and Puerto Rico is one of the transshipment points between South America and Orlando. Heroin trafficking within the Jacksonville area is almost exclusively Colombian in origin. Heroin is transported from the Miami area via private and commercial vehicles to Jacksonville for further distribution.

Marijuana
Marijuana, both domestically grown and imported, is readily available throughout the Florida. Domestic indoor cultivation is a significant industry throughout Florida. The availability of plant hot houses and large commercial nurseries allow traffickers ready access to the necessary equipment for indoor grow operations, particularly in southwest Florida. The Fort Myers RO reports that growers are aware of federal threshold limits and are growing less than 100 plants per grow to reduce the risk of federal penalties. Marijuana is imported into the Jacksonville area from the U.S. southwest border, Canada and Jamaica, by every available transportation method. The Panhandle region continues to be a transit area for marijuana from Mexico. Seizures continue along Interstate-10 from trucks, rental vehicles and trailers traveling east into Florida. Mexican commercial grade marijuana continues to be brought into the Orlando area from the southwest border. It is concealed in hidden compartments in passenger cars and large commercial vehicles, in luggage on commercial air flights or concealed within freight shipments.

Methamphetamine
The Tampa Bay area is the focal point of all methamphetamine distribution and abuse within Florida. Methamphetamine is transported into Florida, in multi-pound increments, by Mexican/California drug trafficking organizations based in California and Texas. Mexican traffickers have become entrenched in Central Florida. The Mexican organizations make use of this migrant pipeline to move methamphetamine. Aside from the Mexican organizations, clandestine methamphetamine lab seizures have taken an explosive upturn in Florida. For FY 2002 there were 127 labs seized, compared to 28 labs seized for all of FY 2001. For the first two quarters of FY 2003, there have already been 100 labs seized throughout the state. These clandestine labs tend to be small "mom and pop" operations, but taken as a whole they represent a growing danger. The trafficking of methamphetamine has increased considerably in the Jacksonville area. As in other areas of the state, labs were small but highly toxic. Many were found in hotel rooms and trucks. Investigations conducted in Pensacola indicate that out-of state methamphetamine manufacturers seek precursor chemicals in northwest Florida. Methamphetamine produced in super labs from Texas and California transits the area along the Interstate-10 corridor. The abuse of crystal methamphetamine is also a problem. The Southeast Regional Lab (SERL) reports that crystal methamphetamine averages above 80% in purity and is showing up in South Florida clubs, where users are known to mix usage with MDMA. There has also been a significant increase in crystal methamphetamine use within the homosexual community in South Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale. Intelligence has also indicated that Mexican-produced crystal methamphetamine is distributed in South Florida via California. The primary distribution method utilized by these organizations has been parcel delivery. Methamphetamine abuse continues to increase throughout the central and northern parts of the state. Methamphetamine abuse in northwest Florida is increasing. Methamphetamine abuse also continues to rise in the Orlando area, and has been commensurate with an increase in the number of clandestine laboratories seized in the area.

Florida Drug and Alcohol News

Jacksonville, Florida Police Make Multiple Arrests After Uncovering Drug Trafficking Ring
Police Use A Yearlong Undercover Operation To Bust Drug Ring

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA -- The Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff's Office announced Thursday they arrested 11 suspects in connection with a drug trafficking ring they say was funneling cocaine from California, Ecstasy pills from South Florida and hundreds of pounds of marijuana to street-level dealers in Jacksonville, Florida.

Police said they arrested Russell Farrell, Andrew Maxwell, David Chamberlain, Frederick Beatty, Maxwell Beatty, Roberto Raphael, Michelle Highsmith, William Highsmith, Joseph Lambert, Lewis Lonnie, and another person whose name has not been released.

Fifteen more suspects are being sought.

Florida Police posing as corrupt officers launched what they call Operation LA Express to take the group of suspected drug traffickers off the streets.

The man Florida police have identified as the head of the operation, Russell Farrell, ran a telecommunications business in West Jacksonville, Florida called All American Communications. Florida police said it was probably a front to hide his illegal activities.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement told Channel 4 the investigation started last summer when an informant gave the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office the name of a marijuana and Ecstasy dealer. A year long investigation uncovered the rest of the drug trafficking ring.

Florida police have confiscated cash, cocaine, Ecstasy, vehicles and other items.