Cocaine:Cocaine HCl remained widely available throughout the Philadelphia Division, as reports indicated that availability remained stable in Pennsylvania and increased in Delaware during the quarter. In some of these areas, particularly in northeastern Pennsylvania, the availability of cocaine remained a greater concern compared to other drugs and other areas, such as Philadelphia, where heroin is generally considered the more serious problem due to its growing popularity. Cocaine HCl remained one of the drugs of choice division-wide, as its overall popularity has not diminished greatly over the last few years. In the Philadelphia area, the increasing availability and use of cheap, high-purity heroin has brought its popularity near or equal to that of cocaine. However, the use of cocaine HCl and crack cocaine generally caused the most concern in suburban and rural communities outside of Philadelphia. Reports indicated that cocaine HCl continued to be used in combination with heroin and/or alcohol. New York City remained the primary source area for cocaine HCl distributed in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In Pennsylvania, the availability of crack cocaine remained stable, yet high in urban and rural communities, while in Delaware, reports from state and local law enforcement indicated that crack cocaine availability continued to increase. In Philadelphia, it was reported that near-pure crack cocaine remained available primarily in bag and vial quantities.

Crack Cocaine:As a result of its wide availability, the popularity and use of crack cocaine remained unsurpassed in most of Pennsylvania and Delaware; only the popularity of heroin remained comparable in Philadelphia. Crack cocaine use continued to infiltrate a variety of populations both within inner city neighborhoods of the larger metropolitan areas and in smaller urban and rural localities throughout the division, regardless of economic status or ethnic background. As with powder cocaine, the crack cocaine market was driven by violent and well-organized Hispanic (namely Dominican) and African-American groups. Some of these organizations purchased bulk quantities of powder cocaine in source cities, transported it back to their area, and cooked it into the crack cocaine that was bought by users. Cocaine HCl was also transported from New York to some of the division's smaller cities and towns, where it is converted to crack cocaine and sold for a greater profit. These smaller cities, towns, and rural areas are generally considered new markets for distributors looking for higher profits and less of a law enforcement presence away from drug-saturated larger cities.

Heroin: Throughout the state, retail or street-level quantities of heroin were typically packaged in small glassine bags, which were sold individually or in bundles containing about 10-13 bags. Similar forms of heroin reported during the quarter included "eggs," "fingers," and "buttons." In some areas, "sleeves" of ten (10) bundles remained available, while in Philadelphia, distributors continued wrapping multi-bundle quantities of heroin in telephone directory pages.

The increased availability of cheaper, higher purity heroin over the last few years has caused concern throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware over a growing heroin use problem that reaches all areas and all socioeconomic backgrounds. Heroin's popularity among teens and young adults remained high, as they and other users consume heroin either by itself or in combination with cocaine or alcohol, a combination that typically leads to overdose deaths. In some areas, heroin overdose deaths continued to rise in the last few years. For example, the Lackawanna County (PA) Coroner's Office reported 32 heroin-related overdose deaths for CY 2002 as of December. This represents a significant increase from 2001, when there were 22 heroin-related overdose deaths, and from 1998 and 1999, when there were a combined total of 13 drug overdose deaths. Of 163 total drug overdose deaths reported in Allegheny County (western PA) to date in CY 2002, 103 (63%) were heroin-related; this represented a decline from 120 heroin-related overdose deaths in CY 2001. Reports from another western Pennsylvania county, Westmoreland, indicated that 57% of drug overdoses deaths were heroin-related. In Berks County, PA, four out of seven drug overdose fatalities were related to heroin used in combination with cocaine. Well-organized and sometimes violent Hispanic groups, including Colombian, Dominican, and Puerto Rican organizations, dominated the heroin market in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Informant debriefings and defendant proffers indicated that the primary sources of heroin are New York City-based trafficking organizations, which used vehicles equipped with hidden compartments as well as public transportation to transport heroin into Philadelphia and other distribution locations and money back to New York. Philadelphia-based Hispanic distribution organizations remained the primary source for heroin sold to users throughout the division - heroin that was typically sold in quantities ranging from single bags to multi-hundred bundles and from grams to multi-ounces. In Delaware, loosely organized Hispanic and African-American traffickers dominated wholesale and retail distribution of heroin. The majority of the heroin distributed in Delaware was transported from Philadelphia by "day trippers," who drove to Philadelphia and returned with quantities of heroin that fell short of the minimum mandatory trafficking statutes. Reports continued to show that Dominican distributors from Philadelphia and New York City are moving into Wilmington, Delaware, to distribute large quantities of heroin and cocaine.

Heroin Availability : Heroin remained widely available throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware during the quarter, as distributors from source cities continued to take advantage of new suburban and rural markets. Although the greater Philadelphia area is generally considered a consumer heroin market, the availability of cheap, high-purity, South American heroin in Philadelphia attracted lower-level distributors and users from areas throughout the region to numerous street corner distribution locations, especially in the "Badlands" of North Philadelphia.

In Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, heroin availability was reported to be on the rise due to increases in purity and decreases in prices.

Heroin availability was stable outside of the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as it remained easy for users to obtain it in many of the smaller urban, suburban, and rural areas that make up most of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Some of these localities, especially the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, Reading, and Easton, have become lower-level distribution points for users in surrounding areas. Most of these areas are located within a short drive of Philadelphia and those in eastern Pennsylvania are also located within a short drive of New York. Although Philadelphia remained the primary source for heroin distributors and users in Delaware, reports indicated that bulk quantities of heroin were also available and distributed in Wilmington, DE.

Methamphetamine: Methamphetamine remained available in the Allentown area and there were indications reported during the quarter that methamphetamine was also available in the Pittsburgh area. Precursor chemicals such as P2P and methylamine remained available to clandestine lab operators who used the P2P method to manufacture methamphetamine. Investigations have indicated that Philadelphia and its surrounding suburban counties are the origin of a large portion of the methamphetamine produced and consumed in the eastern United States. Over the last several reporting periods, most clandestine laboratory seizures by the Philadelphia Division revealed that operators employed the P2P method of manufacturing methamphetamine. More recent reporting indicated, however, that regional clandestine laboratory operators are utilizing the ephedrine reduction and "Birch" methods that are more common in other areas of the United States. Although primarily concentrated in the Philadelphia area, clandestine laboratories have been discovered and dismantled in other localities in Pennsylvania. Investigations indicated that most of the methamphetamine consumed in the division originated in southeastern Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and its surrounding counties). There, independent traffickers and members of outlaw motorcycle gangs have traditionally dominated manufacturing, trafficking, and distribution of methamphetamine. Reports continued to indicate that some Philadelphia area violators are importing methamphetamine from other areas, including the western United States and Mexico.

Club Drugs Availability/Use: MDMA/ecstasy remained readily available primarily at rave parties and nightclubs in the metropolitan areas of Pennsylvania and Delaware (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Wilmington, DE). As reported in previous quarters, the availability and increasing popularity of MDMA, especially among teenagers and young adults on college campuses, remained concerns to state and local law enforcement. Potentially adding to the problem were reports that MDMA prices have dropped considerably - in one Philadelphia case, from $20 to $9 per pill. Gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), the GHB precursor gamma butyrolactone (GBL), and ketamine also remained available in Philadelphia-area and Delaware nightclubs, while GHB continued to be used in central Pennsylvania. Investigations revealed that New York City remained a primary source area for the retail quantities of MDMA sold in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Intelligence and investigations also indicated that MDMA continued to be smuggled from the Netherlands, through Canada, New York, and the Caribbean, and then to Philadelphia. As previously reported, however, MDMA traffickers/couriers smuggled bulk quantities of tablets into the US via flights to Philadelphia International Airport. Current and past investigations indicated that Israeli and Dutch nationals are responsible for trafficking thousands of MDMA tablets into the United States and ultimately, into nightclubs, rave parties, and college campuses. The investigations have also revealed that wholesale quantities of MDMA tablets are transported in a variety of ways, including via mail/parcel services or by hiring couriers to fly into the US with suitcases concealing tablets.

Marijuana: Marijuana remained abundantly available in both wholesale and retail quantities in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In western Pennsylvania, marijuana abundance was attributed to the continued use of commercial shipping companies to transport it as well as the existence of growing operations in the area. As reported last quarter, state and local law enforcement in Delaware indicated that higher quality marijuana was available, particularly in Newark. Recreational use of marijuana remained popular with high school and college age students, while adults remained the predominant users of marijuana, especially in large social gatherings, such as rock concerts. As in previous reporting periods, marijuana was typically smoked in combination with crack cocaine, heroin, and PCP. Due to their proximity to major thoroughfares, localities throughout the division remained transshipment points as well as consumer markets. In particular, the city of Reading, PA, and areas in central Pennsylvania, which are homes to several trucking warehouses, remained hubs for marijuana trafficking organizations transporting bulk loads of marijuana to distributors in the eastern United States. At the retail level, Hispanic, African-American, and Caucasian groups, along with some dominant Jamaican organizations, controlled the marijuana market by distributing bag, ounce, and pound quantities to users across Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Other Dangerous Drugs: Phencyclidine (PCP) availability continued to increase in and around Philadelphia during the quarter. As previously reported, $5 bags (containing enough PCP to make three to eight cigarettes) were available in Philadelphia and its suburbs. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was reportedly available in western Pennsylvania and remained available in smaller urban areas, such as in Bethlehem, PA, and Pottsville, PA. Middle to upper-income Caucasian juveniles and young adults (ages 16-25) residing in the Allentown area or suburban Harrisburg, PA, and its local colleges not only remained the predominant users of LSD, but also distributed it. California was the most commonly reported source area for quantities of LSD and PCP distributed in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. California and New York were reported to be the major source areas for PCP, which is distributed primarily in the Philadelphia area.

Diverted Pharmaceutical Drugs:Oxycodone products remained the diverted pharmaceutical drugs of concern in the Philadelphia Division. Further illustrating the OxyContin problem in western Pennsylvania were reports from treatment programs that over 80% of new patients are seeking to use methadone to slow their use of OxyContin. In western Pennsylvania, the continued diversion and use of hydrocodone products accounted for the majority of diversion investigations conducted by DEA Pittsburgh. Other pharmaceutical drugs continued to be diverted and remained popular during the quarter. The benzodiazepine Xanax (alprazolam) remained one of the pharmaceutical drugs of choice in the division and was the most used pharmaceutical drug by patients who seek treatment, according to opioid treatment programs; pharmacy theft reports routinely listed alprazolam products among drugs stolen from pharmacies. The most common methods of diversion reported during the quarter included diversion through theft, fraud, direct wholesale purchases, physicians and other health care professionals prescribing controlled substances for people with no legitimate medical need, prescription forgery, and "doctor shopping" schemes. Large-scale diversion from independent retail pharmacies remained a problem throughout the division, as demonstrated by the numerous investigations into pharmacy owners who divert pharmaceutical drugs and conduct other illegal activity for financial gain.