Mexican Cartels Expand Meth Dealing in U.S.

Nov. 15, 2006 — -- Mexican drug-trafficking cartels have moved in to fill the void left by the successful crackdown on small methamphetamine labs across the United States, and the foreign traffickers have brought the highly addictive drug into parts of the country where it was rarely seen before, according to a new report by the National Drug Intelligence Center.

According to Health and Human Services data, drug use is down over the last four years, but a new report says that Mexican drug trafficking organizations, or DTOs, have gained strength in the United States and that heroin usage has increased among some drug addicts.

DEA officials believe that five main Mexican drug cartels have increased operations in the United States.

Mexican drug-trafficking organizations have "gained considerable strength and greatly expanded their presence in drug markets throughout the country, even in many smaller communities in Midwestern and Eastern states," said the report, which was released today.

Because the ingredients for making meth were easily obtainable, small makeshift meth labs sprang up across the country, feeding much of the surge in meth use since the early 1990s. But when states started passing laws limiting access to some of the key ingredients, such as pseudoephedrine, many of those mom-and-pop labs closed.

The federal government followed suit when Congress tacked a meth provision onto the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act that limits the amount of pseudoephedrine people can buy at pharmacies.

According to the DEA, since 2004 there have been fewer U.S.-based labs, judging from the DEA's seizure data.

"We've had a significant reduction in domestic labs, with Mexican DTOs filling the void," one DEA official, who requested anonymity, told ABC News.

The spread of methamphetamine can be seen in cities such as Atlanta, which has had several high-yield busts in recent months. In August, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta announced the largest meth seizure in Georgia's history, which removed as much as $50 million worth of meth from the streets.