Club Drugs
Club drugs remain readily available in North Texas. The most frequently abused of club drugs is "Ecstasy" (MDMA). Intelligence indicates the increased abuse of Ecstasy among 18 to 24 year old African Americans, especially, in the greater Dallas area. Asians continue to be involved in the sale and distribution of MDMA. Intelligence further indicates increased interest among Mexican traffickers to distribute and sell Ecstasy in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. FY 2000 through FY 2002 statistics analyzed by DEA laboratories show a 1540% increase in seizure amounts of MDMA. The Dallas FD is currently ranked 2nd, nationally, for GHB and Rohypnol emergency room visits and above national average, in its emergency room visits for MDMA, Ketamine, LSD and PCP. The majority of the MDMA available in the Houston Division continues to originate in Europe, specifically from Belgium and the Netherlands. MDMA is most commonly transported via courier through the airlines. Recent reporting from Monterrey, Mexico, shows northern Mexico to be an emerging source for MDMA production. The availability and popularity of MDMA is increasing in the Division. Raves are a primary venue for MDMA distribution, as are clubs and gyms. The number and frequency of raves throughout the Division has increased. Other dangerous drugs readily available and transported through the Houston Division include Rohypnol, Ketamine, GHB, LSD, and PCP. Several drugs in this category are more available, due, in part, to El Paso's close proximity to Juarez, Mexico, where purchases can be made over the counter from unscrupulous pharmacists. Ecstasy, Rohypnol, and other pharmaceuticals are being used at Rave parties in El Paso County. The use of these types of drugs has not skyrocketed, as in other metropolitan areas in the U.S. These same drugs are available in New Mexico.

Cocaine
North Texas is a distribution and transshipment area for cocaine that is distributed via passenger vehicles and tractor-trailers to destinations in the Midwestern, Northern and Eastern U.S. Intelligence indicates that organizations operating on the East Coast are interested in setting up operation in the greater Dallas area in order to obtain reliable supplies of cocaine at a lower price than what they pay on the East Coast. The Houston Division is a major transshipment, distribution and consumption center for Colombian cocaine. The narcotics are either shipped directly to Texas or transshipped through Mexico. Illicit transporters favor the exploitation of the commercial trucking industry to move bulk (multi-hundred kilogram) quantities of Colombian cocaine through the Houston Division. Smaller loads are routinely seized from privately owned vehicles or from couriers utilizing busses or the airlines. The El Paso/Juarez corridor serves as a transshipment point for cocaine to various locations in the U.S. Seized loads range from 50-800 pounds. Cocaine is the drug of choice among users in New Mexico and the availability is high. The El Paso/Juarez corridor is the route primarily used to transport cocaine to Albuquerque and is distributed to other parts of the State from there. Cocaine is transported through New Mexico by MDTOs at an increasing rate. Multiple kilogram quantities are routinely seized from commercial trucks, public transportation and private vehicles. The most common seizures occur when couriers are interdicted on public transportation with two to three kilograms of cocaine carried on their body. Cocaine is also readily available for distribution throughout New Mexico in gram to ounce quantities for local consumption. Local law enforcement authorities consistently rank cocaine and crack cocaine distribution and use as their number one drug problem.

Heroin
Mexican black tar (MBT) heroin remains the primary heroin threat in North Texas. MBT heroin is readily available throughout North Texas. Based on intelligence, the greater Dallas Fort Worth area is a distribution point for MBT heroin shipped to the Eastern, Southeastern, and Midwestern United States. Analysis of MBT heroin seizures indicates an overall rise in purity of 22% when comparing FY 2002 MBT seizures to FY 2001 MBT heroin seizures. Over the past year, intelligence indicates an increase in the availability of Colombian and Southwest Asian (SWA) heroin in the greater Dallas area. Mexican black tar and brown heroin are routinely seized in south Texas. In recent years, the Houston Field Division has been identified as a transshipment point for kilogram quantities of Colombian heroin destined for the east coast. Small quantities of Asian heroin are sporadically encountered in south Texas, smuggled in via courier or seized from the mail. Within the last year, there has been a noticeable increase in the availability and purity of Mexican heroin in south Texas. Between August and November of 2002, a number of fatal overdoses were documented in the Laredo and Corpus Christi areas. These deaths have been attributed to the ingestion of high purity Mexican heroin. Mexican black tar and brown heroin are routinely seized at the POEs in El Paso County. Black tar heroin has long been available in this region from sources in the Mexican States of Durango and Chihuahua. Heroin is most commonly smuggled in secret compartments in private vehicles and concealed on persons. The heroin is usually carried across the border by couriers; however, lately a developing trend has been seen where heroin distributors will cross the border with their supply. Heroin availability has shown a steady increase over the past five years as evidenced by the increase in kilogram seizures and a steady decrease in price. Enforcement operations have, for a time, significantly disrupted the availability of street level quantities of heroin in the area and briefly reduced the number of overdoses and overdose deaths. However, in part because heroin use is socially and culturally accepted in the area, the heroin issue consistently reappears.

Marijuana
Marijuana remains readily available and is considered the most widely used illegal drug throughout the State of Texas. Marijuana in this area is primarily imported from the Texas/Mexico border via privately owned vehicles (POV) and commercial trucks. Large quantities of marijuana are routinely seized by all levels of law enforcement during highway interdiction stops in the North Texas area. Additionally, in recent years, increased enforcement activity has lead to the seizure of several significant indoor marijuana cultivation operations in the North Texas area. These operations range in size from 100 to over 1100 plants and have produced marijuana with THC levels as high as 15%. Mexican marijuana is the most predominantly trafficked drug in the Houston Division. It is not uncommon for the US Border Patrol to make multi-hundred pound marijuana seizures from "back packers" at points along the Rio Grande River, and from vehicles transiting at the US Border Patrol secondary checkpoints located inside Texas. At the Ports of Entry, ton quantity seizures of marijuana are often made from commercial trucking attempting to enter the United States.

Methamphetamine
Availability of methamphetamine remains high in North Texas, and the pace of enforcement activities surrounding methamphetamine continues to escalate. Mexican manufactured methamphetamine is transported to the region through traditional means, such as passenger and commercial vehicles. Additionally, small clandestine labs that produce small amounts of extremely high quality methamphetamine are encountered in both rural and urban areas. Recent intelligence and seizure analysis indicates an increased availability of high purity methamphetamine in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex area. Because of the increased demand, greater availability, and expanding market, the high purity methamphetamine threat will probably increase.

The availability of both Mexican methamphetamine and locally produced methamphetamine in the Houston Division is increasing. Mexican methamphetamine is the primary type found in the Division. It is transported in multi-pound quantities directly from Mexico or from Mexico via California. From Houston, methamphetamine is also distributed to the Midwest and the East Coast. In the Houston area, crystallized Methamphetamine (ICE) is being sold in local clubs and is also being offered by Mexican traffickers. Domestically produced methamphetamine continues to be manufactured by motorcycle gangs and independent producers in small batches using pseudoephedrine, anhydrous ammonia, red phosphorous, iodine, lithium batteries, or muriatic acid. There are numerous labs operating in East Texas, Corpus Christi, and in the Austin area. Most of these labs are small, mobile pseudoephedrine labs that produce small amounts for distribution in the local area.

Methamphetamine poses a multi-pronged threat in this region. It is available in multiple kilogram quantities. The majority of methamphetamine seized originates in Mexico, but arrives in New Mexico from distributors in Los Angeles, CA and Phoenix, AZ. Methamphetamine investigations are especially prevalent in the area known as the Four Corners Region where the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet to form a common border and along the eastern New Mexico/Texas border. Popular in the area are the small, clandestine laboratories, set up, especially in New Mexico, in remote, rural locations. In Southern New Mexico, closer to Las Cruces and El Paso, the current preferred process is the "Birch method", that uses chemicals, such as anhydrous ammonia, to process the methamphetamine. Use of the "Birch method" is believed to be an attempt by small laboratory operators to acquire non-controlled chemicals for production, in order to subvert law enforcement scrutiny.