Modus Operandi (26 page)

Heroin

Heroin is once again increasing in popularity for two reasons: The price has gone down and the supply is plentiful. Heroin users feel that heroin is the safest of all the hard narcotics. Heroin is sold in glassine bags known as dime bags. A heroin addict can use as much as $600 a day in his habit. These glassine bags will have a stamped trademark, or legend, usually a name along with a picture. Some names seen on the streets are Tombstone, 44 Magnum, TNT and Minuteman. The heroin user will use these markings as a sort of consumers' guide for his product.

Heroin is either injected with a syringe under the skin, called skin popping, or directly into a vein, called mainlining. Smoking heroin is increasing in popularity because of the AIDS epidemic and a desire to avoid track marks. Track marks occur over time when the repetitive injections cause ulcering and collapsed veins.

Speedballs

Speedballs are a mixture of crack and heroin, which is generally smoked. Speedballs are like crack in many ways: It is a very intense, but short-lived, high, usually less than ten minutes.

Methamphetamine

The new kid on the block, which was first seen in Hawaii and sold by Filipino gangs, is called Ice. Ice is basically crystallized methamphetamine. Ice is almost 100 percent pure

and is more lethal and addictive than any other drug. Ice resembles rock salt with different colors. These colors are used to determine the quality; the clearer the color, the better the quality. Ice is cheaper than cocaine or heroin and the effects have been known to last up to twenty-four hours. Ice, like crack, is very addictive and dangerous. Methods of ingestion are smoking, snorting or injection. Ice is predominantly a West Coast drug and is not seen much on the East Coast.

Designer Drugs

Designer drugs are manufactured to produce effects similar to other narcotic drugs. Designer drugs can be injected, smoked, snorted or come in a pill form. A person with a chemistry background produces designer drugs in small clandestine laboratories using no quality control. Some popular designer drugs are Fentanyl Citrate, referred to as China white, and Ecstasy, called Adam and XTC.

The Old Standbys

Hallucinogens were prevalent in the 1960s and are gaining popularity once again. LSD and PCP are two of the more well-known ones. They both have a number of street names. LSD is colorless and odorless, which makes it extremely dangerous. Some street names are Blotter Acid, Microdot and Orange Sunshine. PCP is a white crystal powder and when manufactured poorly, it could be tan or brown. Some street names for PCP are Angel Dust, Dust, Super Grass, Killer Weed, and Rocket Fuel. Hallucinogens are ingested by swallowing, and PCP is almost always smoked.

Marijuana was very popular during the 1960s and 1970s with the rock culture. It was widely used in the open. Marijuana decreased in popularity in the 1980s but is increasing in popularity once again. Marijuana is smoked either out of a pipe or in cigarette form.

Asian Gangs

Opium is being grown in more places and the quality of heroin is becoming more pure, so the demand for heroin in the United States
is
increasing. Narcotics are smuggled in containers transported on ships. Most products that are shipped worldwide, are shipped in steel containers. But U.S. Customs lacks the manpower to check each and every container, so this is an ideal avenue for smuggling.

Asian gangs smuggle heroin by attaching a device to the bottom of a ship so that it will not be found if the ship

is boarded by law enforcement authorities. Mother ships, like those used during prohibition, set anchor in international waters, small speed boats rendezvous with them, and the cargo is transferred. People are smuggled from China and other Asian countries to the United States in much the same way.

Asian gangs conceal their heroin inside of other objects: It may be inside cans of food, or stashed inside of statues, or just about anywhere. These people can be very creative!

The southeast Asian gangs are based in the Chinatowns of San Francisco and New York and mainly import and supply the heroin known as China White. Sometimes they are referred to as the Tongs, which was an organized crime group formed in nineteenth-century China. Enforcement is maintained by the Vietnamese gangs. The Asian traffickers smuggle from either coast, but the majority of the heroin is sold in the New York City area.

The Golden Triangle and Crescent

Because ports are open in the Middle East, the Golden Crescent is once again in business. Heroin processed in Afghanistan and Pakistan is finding its way through India, Iran and eventually Turkey. This area is known as the Middle Eastern heroin network, and some believe it is being run by the Syrians.

The Golden Triangle includes Hong Kong, Singapore, Laos, Burma, Taiwan and Thailand. Smuggling through these ports is easy because of the vast imports the United States receives from this area of the world.

The Asian region accounts for most of the narcotics smuggling, with Europe being next and South America and the Middle East at the end. Smuggling revenues are also used to support military operations in developing countries. For this reason, the never-ending supply of corrupt officials seems to make narcotic activity thrive.

Jamaican Criminal Groups

Jamaican organized crime groups are often referred to as posses. Like the Asian gangs, infiltration is next to impossible, because of the tight bonding and nationalities of the members. The posses have two main sources of revenue: narcotic smuggling and proficiency in providing false documentation. Posse groups are very violent and appreciate high-power, high-capacity weaponry. To kill their enemies, a single 9mm shot to the head or a drive-by shooting in a public place is popular. Other forms of killing by posses are disemboweling, mutilation and even beheading. Bodies are disposed of by dumping in remote sites. It is common to have a victim's body part sent to his family. Torture before killing is also commonplace.

The Colombians generally supply the posses with their merchandise. The posse flies the shipment by private aircraft from Colombia onto one of ninety illegal landing strips on the island of Jamaica. Jamaica is the ideal transfer point because it is so close to South America and the United States. All of these flights are arranged and cleared through the officials of the countries the plane flies over.

When landing in Jamaica, time of day is not important. The cargo is transferred from one plane to another, and the plane will then fly to its final destination, either Florida or Georgia to an unprotected landing strip. These planes are packed so full with narcotics that the pilot is totally enclosed and cannot exit the plane without first removing some of his cargo.

Posses import small amounts of narcotics using couriers and commercial airline flights. Young adults and females are popular couriers because they don't seem as suspicious. A female smuggler coming in from Jamaica once used a dead infant to smuggle the drugs—the body was cut open and the internal organs were removed and replaced with cocaine. The woman was apprehended when a suspicious crew member noticed the infant didn't move or cry. Marijuana and cocaine are smuggled in hidden spaces in carry-on luggage or body cavities. For larger loads, small private planes are loaded on municipal airports within the islands and transported to isolated landing strips in Florida. Posses also use cruise ships and smaller private boats for transportation.

Upon arriving with the contraband in the United States, posses usually lease vehicles, altered to sustain heavy loads. Many of these vehicles have sun roofs, which are used to fire weapons through when needed. Smuggling operations incorporate a caravan, using vehicles for transportation of the drugs and vehicles for protection, which carry personnel and weaponry.

Jamaican posses, like the Asian gangs, go to great lengths to protect their merchandise. All exits and entrances, windows and hallways of their strongholds are fortified to repel rapid entry by the police or rival drug gangs. These fortifications include hazardous traps, gunports and hidden compartments to hide their merchandise and weapons. The narcotic is not sold hand to hand, but through small holes in the door of their headquarters. Posses use money transfers, beepers and car telephones to conduct their business.

The Mob

Traditional organized crime families such as La Cosa Nostra are starting to expand into narcotics smuggling because most of the older members, who refused to take part in drug trafficking, are losing control due to assassinations and law enforcement efforts. The younger members are more violent risktakers and are more willing to smuggle for the fast money. La Cosa Nostra works out of the little Italy sections of large cities, such as New York and Philadelphia.

Black Gangs

Black gangs are very structured, organized crime units. At one time mostly located in Los Angeles County, over the last few years, black street gangs have emerged in inner cities throughout the United States. Currently, these gangs are increasing their activities in the Midwest. At present the narcotics they deal with are crack cocaine and phency-clidine (PCP).

The organization has no formal structure, but gang-

bangers selected to control the organization are chosen for several qualities. Physical appearance is important because one has to be able, if necessary, to use force to control any situation. A person's age is also important; the older the person, the more mature he will be in handling everyday problems. Arrest record and behavior also lead to a position of leadership.

The age of these enterprising young men is early twenties. As a gangbanger increases his fortune, he will tend not to get involved with the daily comings and goings of the gang. The gangbanger will support his gang by contributing large sums of money, weapons and narcotics.

As new recruits or members, gangbangers gain respect and power through behavior and displays of manhood, e.g. being brave, trustworthy, taking the rap, and going to jail. Recently, because of the money made through narcotics trafficking, prestige in the gang can also be obtained by making money in dealing drugs.

Gangs deal an enormous volume of drugs, which makes it possible to sell them more cheaply than their competition. Organized gangs are now dealing directly with the main suppliers of narcotics and are buying large quantities at one time. These purchases will be in the millions of dollars, and yes, it's all cash. Gangbangers who sell drugs are responsible for the narcotic itself and the money generated from its sale. If the total dollars don't reflect the sales, the gangbanger will suffer the consequences. The punishment will be proportionate to the amount of the loss. If the loss is large enough, it could get you killed.

Successful gangs purchase legitimate businesses to launder money and in an attempt to present a positive image to the community. They may even run for and win a political office. Some of the businesses gangbangers purchase are check cashing outlets, cellular phone and beeper companies, electronics stores, elite car washing services and parking garages. You can see how these types of businesses could be used for narcotic trafficking.

If the police put the heat on, gangbangers will generally move locations rather than look for trouble. This probably explains the recent spread to more rural areas. The gangs easily take over the new area, because they possess the heavy equipment necessary to overpower their rivals. They are heavily armed with assault weapons and semi-au-tomatic handguns. They also have the muscle, the nerve, and the reputation, so rival drug gangs rarely put up a fight.

If gang members are arrested, they hire expensive attorneys to represent them and to deluge the area law enforcement community with bogus complaints and lawsuits.