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DEA Offices & Telephone Nos.
Birmingham205-290-7150
Huntsville256-519-6722
Mobile334-441-5831
Montgomery334-223-7429 |
State
Facts
Population: 4,464,356
Law Enforcement Officers: 11,378
State Prison Population: 37,300
Probation Population: 39,697
Violent Crime Rate
National Ranking: 21 |
2003
Federal Drug Seizures
Cocaine: 473 kgs.
Heroin: 4.9 kgs.
Methamphetamine: 11 kgs.
Marijuana: 601 kgs.
Ecstasy: 63,374 tablets
Methamphetamine Laboratories: 289 (DEA, state,
and local) |
Drug
Situation: The drug threat in Alabama is the widespread availability
and abuse of illegal drugs arriving from outside the state, along with
its homegrown marijuana and the increasing danger of local manufacture
of methamphetamine and designer drugs. Conventional drugs such as cocaine,
methamphetamine and marijuana comprise the bulk of drugs arriving in
and shipped through Alabama. Colombian, Mexican, and Caribbean Drug Trafficking
Organizations (DTOs), regional DTOs, as well as local DTOs and (casual
or one-time traffickers) are responsible for the transportation of these
drugs. Additionally, Mexican, Caribbean and regional DTOs have extensive
distribution networks within the State of Alabama. Outlaw Motorcycle
Gangs are also supplying methamphetamine on a very limited basis through
their own distribution network within the state. Local production of
methamphetamine is on the rise.
Cocaine:
Although most drug seizures and arrests are attributed to marijuana,
cocaine hydrochloride and crack cocaine continue to be a huge drug
threat in. The addictive nature of cocaine destroys otherwise productive
lives and the violence associated with cocaine distribution cripples
many of Alabama's lower income neighborhoods. Although cocaine use
has no ethnic or geographical boundaries in Alabama, cocaine street-level
distribution is dominated by the African American culture. A large
percentage of
Alabama's cocaine is supplied by Mexican sources in California, Arizona,
and Texas, however Alabama's proximity to Atlanta and Miami also poses
a significant threat. Atlanta is a huge transportation hub for both airline
and tractor-trailer traffic, thus posing a drug transportation threat
to Miami has always been a major international drug importation center
and several of drug trafficking organizations have ties to the southern
Florida area.
Heroin:
Heroin has not been a significant factor in Alabama in past years, however
intelligence indicates that more recently the presence of heroin
is on the rise. Most of the heroin in Alabama is transported from
Jamaica; however, a recent sample from a seizure indicated the origination
of the drug was New York. Of the heroin found in Alabama, the drug
is not only becoming available in a purer form, it also is becoming
more affordable.
![Methamphetamine Lab Seizures: 1999=30, 2000=126, 2001=166, 2002=257, 2003=289](/peth04/20041017101226im_/http://www.dea.gov/pubs/states/alabama_meth2004.gif) Methamphetamine:
Methamphetamine has become the biggest drug threat in Alabama. Although
marijuana continues to be the number one drug of choice, methamphetamine
has surpassed cocaine in abuse across the state. An intelligence and
enforcement effort has been initiated in Alabama to identify major drug
trafficking organizations involved in methamphetamine importation, manufacture,
and distribution. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of
clandestine labs discovered in Jackson, Marshall, Etowah, Madison, Houston,
Baldwin, DeKalb, and Walker counties. Methamphetamine labs are found
principally in isolated, rural communities. Seizures and intelligence
show that bulk methamphetamine distribution in Alabama is dominated by
DTOs supplied by sources in Mexico with transportation routes based in
California, Arizona, and Texas. These Mexican DTOs utilize tractor-trailer
trucks, rented or personal vehicles, airlines, and U.S.
Postal Service or commercial carriers to transport methamphetamine to
Alabama. Street level methamphetamine distribution and use is divided
into both the Hispanic and Caucasian cultures. The gaining popularity
of methamphetamine abuse in small towns and communities is directly responsible
for the increase in thefts, violent assaults, and burglaries. EPIC statistics
reported 289 laboratories seized in CY 2003 compared to 257 laboratories
in CY 2002, indicating illicit manufacturing is on the rise.
Club
Drugs: “Club Drug” abuse and distribution
among young people is on the rise in Alabama. Increases in arrests, overdoses
and seizures of these designer drugs been reported and indicate a trend
toward increased availability and trafficking Ecstasy, LSD, and Ketamine.
MDMA, LSD, GHB, and Ketamine are readily available throughout the state,
more commonly found on college campuses and at venues. GHB and MDMA have
emerged as the club drugs of choice and the end-users are young Caucasians
at all economic levels but users are particularly college students and
rave participants. Alabama’s stateside sources of supply Miami,
Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia. The use and distribution of Ecstasy
has continued to increase in Alabama. Intelligence reports indicate the
sources of supply for Ecstasy in Alabama include Miami, Florida; Germany;
Auburn, Alabama; and Nashville, Tennessee with most coming from Atlanta,
Georgia. While Ecstasy is still the number one "club" drug
of choice, GHB and the analogs are growing. GHB has become a significant
threat in Alabama. Investigations have revealed solvents that contain
GHB analogs are being obtained from the Internet. GHB overdoses have
been reported in the Ozark/Dothan, Birmingham, Auburn, Mobile, Huntsville,
and Decatur areas of Alabama. LSD, which can be found in many forms,
has not seen a large increase of abuse in Alabama over the past several
years.
![photo - marijuana plant](/peth04/20041017101226im_/http://www.dea.gov/pubs/states/cannabis.jpg) Marijuana:
Marijuana has always had a strong presence in Alabama. However, in the
past few years, a transformation has been seen in the level of dealers
in the area and in the size of loads commonly seized, especially
in the Huntsville area. Only a few years
ago, a seizure of 10 pounds of marijuana was fairly rare, and was considered
a rather significant seizure. Today, it is not uncommon for Huntsville
to seize loads of 50 to 100 pounds. The overall production of marijuana
within the state continues to decline while the transportation into the
state via the highway system is on the increase. The main sources of
marijuana coming into the state continues to be from Mexico with connections
to South America as well as through port cities of Florida and the Port
of Mobile. African American and Mexican criminal groups transport multi-kilogram
to multi-hundred kilogram shipments of marijuana to Alabama from the
Southwest Border. Marijuana is typically transported into the state via
commercial and private vehicles, and via package delivery and express
mail services. Even though the highway system is a confirmed route for
most of the marijuana seized in the state, another strong possibly could
be the International Airports in the state.
Pharmaceuticals:
Alabama continues to see an increase in diverted pharmaceuticals across
the state. OxyContin is still the number one pharmaceutical drug
abused across the state. The sale and production of Vicodin has increased
in recent years slightly, along with the illegal use of the drug.
In addition, current intelligence and investigations indicate that
Alabama is a major market for Dilaudid. Distribution in Alabama has
increased due to the fact that the price of heroin in the New York
area has fallen dramatically causing the bottom to fall out of the
market for Dilaudid. Distribution organizations are targeting the
metropolitan areas of Alabama, as the price they receive for Dilaudid
is higher in Alabama than in the source areas.
DEA
Mobile Enforcement Teams: This cooperative program with state
and local law enforcement counterparts was conceived in 1995 in response
to the overwhelming problem of drug-related violent crime in towns and
cities across the nation. There have been 409 deployments completed resulting
in 16,763 arrests of violent drug criminals as of February 2004. There
have been nine MET deployments in the State of Alabama since the inception
of the program: Selma, Pritchard, Alabaster, Enterprise, Gadsden, Anniston,
Bessemer, Green/Tuscaloosa Counties, and Mobile/Prichard.
DEA
Regional Enforcement Teams: This program was designed to augment
existing DEA division resources by targeting drug organizations operating
in the United States where there is a lack of sufficient local drug law
enforcement. This Program was conceived in 1999 in response to the threat
posed by drug trafficking organizations that have established networks
of cells to conduct drug trafficking operations in smaller, non-traditional
trafficking locations in the United States. Nationwide, there have been
22 deployments completed resulting in 608 arrests of drug trafficking
criminals as of February 2004. There have been no RET deployments in
the State of Alabama.
Special
Topics: HIDTA: The Gulf Coast HIDTA hosts the following DEA
initiatives in Alabama:
Alabama Operations Center
Mobile/Baldwin Task Force
Jefferson County HIDTA Task Force
Madison/Morgan HIDTA Initiative
More information
about the New Orleans Division Office.
Sources
Factsheet
last updated: 2/2004
Click
here for last year's 2003 factsheet>> |