Drugs in the United States: Missouri

State Facts Population: 5,595,211 Law Enforcement Officers: 13,287 State Prison Population: 27,926 Probation Population: 52,493 Violent Crime Rate National Ranking: 20

2001 Federal Drug Seizures Cocaine: 1,581.8kgs. Heroin: 2.9 kgs. Methamphetamine: 14.8 kgs. Marijuana: 8,739.9 kgs. Clandestine Laboratories: 2,207 (DEA, state, and local)

Mexican poly-drug trafficking organizations control a large majority of the distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin in Missouri. Various organizations with ties to Texas and California continue to traffic in cocaine and heroin. In addition, numerous small toxic methamphetamine laboratories are found in all areas of Missouri.

Cocaine: Enforcement activities reflect a steady supply of cocaine coming into the metropolitan areas of Missouri. The states of Texas and California continue to be the major sources of supply. Crack cocaine continues to be readily available in the southwest and western parts of the state. The number of cocaine-related overdose deaths continues to decrease in the St. Louis area.

Heroin: Mexican black tar, and to a lesser extent Mexican brown heroin, are available throughout the state. Heroin abuse appears to have spread from the city of St. Louis to surrounding areas, as evidenced by an increase in heroin-related deaths in St. Louis County.

Methamphetamine: Both Mexican and locally produced methamphetamine continue to be available throughout the state. Generally, locally produced methamphetamine is of higher potency than that imported from Mexico.

Club Drugs: Ecstasy is available throughout the state and is brought in from Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami. LSD is not a significant problem in eastern Missouri; however, it is available in the Kansas City area. GHB and Rohypnol have become increasingly available.

Marijuana: Marijuana is readily available throughout the state with Mexican marijuana being imported from the Southwest Border. Indoor marijuana growing continues to increase. “Grass roots” groups have promoted legalization, but the state has not sanctioned the cause. Law enforcement agencies do not anticipate a shift in the official position. Treatment admissions for marijuana use have grown approximately 400 percent between 1994 and 2001, only exceeded by admissions for methamphetamine/amphetamine abuse.

Other Drugs: Oxycontin abuse is increasing throughout the state. Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin thefts are increasing as a result of window smashing of pharmacies in the St. Charles area. These drugs are being used as an offset to heroin, according to law enforcement reports.

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 359 deployments completed resulting in over 14,456 arrests of violent drug criminals as of April 1, 2002. There have been nine MET deployments in Missouri: Sikeston, Fountain Park, St. Charles County, Audrain County, Crystal City, Berkeley, Hannibal/Marion County, Franklin County, and Joplin, resulting in 136 arrests.

Special Topics: Several significant law enforcement operations were successfully completed within the past two years. The most recent was Operation Black Ice, a multi-state black tar heroin OCDETF investigation resulting in 17 arrests in Missouri, the seizure of several pounds of heroin along with the execution of approximately 90 search warrants on September 26, 2001. Eight federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies contributed to the dismantling of this organization.

The St. Louis Homicide Initiative was created by DEA St. Louis and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to address and combat the city’s increase in drug related homicides. The objectives of this initiative are to identify violent organizations involved in drug trafficking activity and to develop investigative leads by use of court authorized telephone intercepts to clear unsolved homicides and related crimes.

The Powers investigation was a multi-agency cooperative operation comprised of nine agencies located in the greater Kansas City, Missouri, area which led to the arrest of four defendants, the seizure of 1,000 pounds of marijuana, and the seizure of over $800,000 in assets.

The Soria investigation was a multi-agency OCTDEF operation which led to the dismantling of a multi-pound Mexican national methamphetamine organization operating out the Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas areas which was responsible for the distribution of over 100 pounds of methamphetamine. Four defendants were arrested and asset seizures totaled over $1.1 million.

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