Facts
In Houston, Texas, crystallized Methamphetamine (ICE) is being sold in local clubs and is also being distributed by Mexican traffickers. Mexican border town pharmacies remain an vital source of illegal pharmaceuticals seized in the Houston Field Division in Texas. Making this issue worse, is Texas's severe shortage of qualified medical personnel which forces state authorities to grant prescriptive authority to practitioners not licensed in other states. Intelligence reports cite the increased abuse of Ecstasy among 18 to 24 year old African Americans in Texas, particularly in the greater Dallas area. Domestically produced methamphetamine continues to be produced in Texas by motorcycle gangs and independent producers in small batches using pseudoephedrine, anhydrous ammonia, red phosphorous, iodine, lithium batteries, or muriatic acid. MBT (Mexican Blach Tar) heroin is easily available throughout north Texas. Black tar heroin is mainly produced in Mexico. Black tar heroin may be sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal. The color may vary from dark brown to black. The color and consistency of black tar heroin result from the crude processing methods used to illicitly manufacture heroin in Mexico. Black tar heroin is often sold on the street in its tar-like state at purity ranging from 20 to 80 percent. Commonly, black tar heroin is sold in small foil or cellophane packets or in small toy balloons. Drug smuggling and transportation in Texas are dominated by major Mexican trafficking organizations. These groups are poly-drug organizations smuggling methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for distribution in the Eastern, Southeastern, and Midwestern United States. The central location and proximity to the Mexican Border provide a natural advantage for drug distribution/transshipment throughout Texas and the United States. |