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Drug Situation: The State of New Jersey is
situated between the major industrial markets of New York and Philadelphia and
has been referred to as the "crossroads of the east." It is considered a
gateway state, with major interstate highways, roadways, international
airports/seaports, and other infrastructures capable of accommodating
voluminous amounts of passenger and cargo traffic. Therefore, New Jersey is an
ideal strategic corridor as well as a vulnerable corridor for transportation of
drug contraband and illicit currency.
Over the past year, drug trafficking activity and drug
prices in the Newark Division (ND) remained relatively constant. However, a new
trend has emerged, whereby Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) establish
stash houses in suburban communities.
According to source information, as well as
information gathered through traditional investigative techniques, dealers are
less willing to travel into New York City because of the possibility of their
vehicle being stopped and searched at random police checkpoints on tunnels and
bridges. For this reason, DTOs have started renting and/or buying residences in
towns where stash houses and even heroin mills would not be suspected. |
