Iowa Laws and Programs

Iowa's central location and the existence of two major interstate highways (I-80 and I-35) place it on the smuggling routes of many drug trafficking organizations, while the state's largely rural character enables the creation of methamphetamine labs and local cultivation of marijuana. Private and commercial vehicles and mail delivery services are all used to transport drugs into Iowa and the proceeds of drug sales out.

Methamphetamine is primarily trafficked by Hispanic organizations (Iowa has a large Mexican community that provides cover), while Asian organizations have been identified in trafficking MDMA. Drugs seized by federal authorities in Iowa in 2008 include 646 kilograms of marijuana, 29.4 kilograms of cocaine, 21 kilograms of methamphetamine and 1,920 dosage units of MDMA, while 676 cultivated marijuana plants were eradicated in ...