Here is what they say:
Production and Trafficking
Contents
Major Methamphetamine Trafficking Organizations
Regional Trafficking Trends
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
West
Violence
The suppliers of methamphetamine in the United States traditionally have been outlaw motorcycle gangs and numerous other independent trafficking groups. While they continue to produce methamphetamine and control a share of the market, methamphetamine smuggling into the United States from Mexico is controlled primarily by the same major organizations that dominate the production/trafficking of other illicit drugs from Mexico into the United States. These groups are composed of combinations of Mexican nationals residing in Mexico and the United States, Mexican-Americans who operate on either side of the border, and illegal aliens residing in the United States. Often, these organizations are directed by well-established families that have been involved in smuggling contraband for decades. They produce and/or transport large quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana into the United States on a daily basis. They regularly demonstrate their flexibility and adaptability, modifying smuggling routes and methods as needed to handle virtually any drug. Currently, the younger generation within some of these families has expanded into methamphetamine trafficking.
These groups almost exclusively use the ephedrine reduction method and have become large-scale importers of ephedrine into Mexico, some of which is transported into the United States.
There are numerous border points of entry for Mexican-produced methamphetamine and ephedrine into the United States. The most common method of transporting methamphetamine across the border is via passenger vehicles. The passenger vehicles most frequently used to smuggle methamphetamine are cars, but also include pickup trucks and 4-wheel drive vehicles.
Domestically, methamphetamine is distributed by a wide array of organizations that vary greatly in size, structure, and degree of sophistication - from small, local independent groups that operate on a limited scale to large organizations that control all aspects of the traffic. Intelligence indicates that many of the newly established distribution networks around the country are being supplied by sources in California that receive methamphetamine and ephedrine. In addition, as previously described, there are organizations involved solely in chemical acquisition. Organized crime drug groups operating from Mexico control distribution in many areas of the West and Southwest. For example, these groups operating from Mexico have been identified as operating in areas of the Denver, Houston, Phoenix, Seattle, and St. Louis Field Divisions, beyond their strongholds in California and Mexico. As previously stated, recent intelligence indicates that traffickers from Mexico are supplying Asian organizations/gangs on the West Coast and Hawaii with ephedrine and methamphetamine for the manufacture of ice.
There can be no question but that the large-scale move by these organized crime drug groups operating from Mexico into methamphetamine production is a conscious decision of the leaders of these powerful organizations. Should demand for methamphetamine in the United States continue to increase, these trafficking organizations are in a position to control the smuggling and distribution of the drug into and within the United States.
The upsurge in methamphetamine trafficking has been accompanied by an increase in violence. For example, in San Diego a methamphetamine distribution organization was implicated in at least 26 murders committed during a 6 month period in 1993. This violence was fueled by an ongoing turf battle between two rival methamphetamine distribution organizations that began with the murder of one of the organizations' leaders.
Major Methamphetamine Trafficking Organizations
The extensive involvement of polydrug trafficking organizations from Mexico in methamphetamine production and distribution has redefined the methamphetamine problem in the United States. There are several reasons why organized crime groups operating from Mexico have been able to achieve dominance of the methamphetamine market: these organizations established access to wholesale ephedrine sources of supply on the international market; these organizations are producing unprecedented quantities of high-purity methamphetamine on a regular basis; and, these polydrug organizations control well-established cocaine, heroin, and marijuana distribution networks throughout the western United States, enabling them to supply methamphetamine to a large retail-level market. Presently, these organizations are poised to supply methamphetamine to the rest of the country in response to any increases in demand. The major methamphetamine trafficking organizations operating from Mexico include:
The ARELLANO-Felix organization, the most violent of the gangs from Mexico, supplies methamphetamine to distributors in U.S. cities such as San Ysidro and San Diego, routinely employing gang members from Mexico to act as U.S. distributors. They operate on both sides of the U.S./Mexican border and smuggle between 50 and 100 pounds of methamphetamine into the United States monthly.
The Amado CARRILLO-Fuentes organization is currently the most powerful drug group in Mexico and operates from Hermosillo in the west across the border to Arizona and from Juarez into Texas. A seizure in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1995 of 315 kilograms of methamphetamine was tied to the CARRILLO-Fuentes organization. At least parts of this shipment were destined for Washington, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Georgia. The methamphetamine was analyzed at 98 percent pure and had an estimated street value of over $50 million. This organization also is tied to a 3 metric ton shipment of ephedrine destined for Nicaragua in concert with the AMEZCUA organization. The CARRILLO-Fuentes organization provides large quantities of methamphetamine to the Phoenix, Arizona, area through the Jorge ORTIZ-Caro organization, which operates in Sonora, Mexico, as well as Phoenix. The ORTIZ-Caro organization has been identified as a methamphetamine source of supply for organizations based in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. ORTIZ-Caro reportedly is a supplier of methamphetamine to associates and members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang in Phoenix.
The AMEZCUA-Contreras organization has been identified as the largest known importer of ephedrine into Mexico and across the U.S. border. Since September, 1992, in excess of 5 tons of ephedrine ordered by Jesus and his brother, Luis AMEZCUA, have been seized. These brothers have been documented since 1988 as trafficking in cocaine and methamphetamine in both the San Diego and the Los Angeles areas. This organization operates primarily out of Guadalajara, but, through agreements with other Mexican gangs, has extended its trafficking operations all along the border. It controls methamphetamine laboratories in Guadalajara and Tijuana and employs associates across the border in ephedrine and methamphetamine trafficking, especially in Southern California. Luis was indicted in the Central District of California in December 1994 for methamphetamine-related violations. Jesus was indicted in the Southern District of California in February 1993 for cocaine-related violations in a joint DEA/FBI investigation. Although indictments and arrest warrants have been issued for both individuals, investigations continue to indicate that they and their organization remain deeply involved in methamphetamine trafficking from Mexico to the United States.
The CARO-Quintero organization, a major transporter of cocaine and marijuana, has expanded to methamphetamine trafficking and may be aligning with the ARELLANO-Felix organization. This organization operates from Hermosillo, Agua Prieta, Guadalajara, and Culiacan as well as the Mexican states of San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, and Sonora. Its smuggling routes extend into California, Arizona, Texas, and Nevada and it is responsible for trafficking hundred-pound quantities through Arizona ports of entry.
The major Mexican trafficking groups outlined above operate within a fluid, flexible, and elastic system. Alliances shift or shake-ups in the hierarchy occur with the divergence of interests and eruptions of internecine violence. But while the precise roles of specific groups and individual group members often blur, there is an overarching structure within which drug trafficking operates: the Federation.
The Federation evolved from the Guadalajara cartel, which was formed in the 1980's by Rafael CARO-Quintero and Miguel FELIX-Gallardo in order to ship heroin and marijuana to the United States. Among the first of the Mexican drug trafficking groups to work with the Colombian cocaine mafias, the Guadalajara cartel prospered from the cocaine trade, eventually broadening into today's Federation. Currently, its leadership consists of Chapo GUZMAN and Hector PALMA-Salazar (both jailed in Mexico) and Amado CARRILLO-Fuentes, now the dominant force. The ARELLANO-Felix brothers - laying claim to FELIX-Gallardo's former leadership position and by virtue of their control over smuggling in Sonora - also are battling for influence.
https://fas.org/irp/agency/doj/dea/product/meth/production.htm
