North Carolina Laws and Programs

[Page 596]Law enforcement officials report that drug trafficking in North Carolina is significantly increasing and money laundering related to the drug trade continues to be a significant problem. Marijuana is locally grown, as well as brought into the state from Mexico and Canada. Methamphetamine is readily available throughout much of the state, although supply is shifting from locally manufactured meth to crystal meth (“ice”) transported from Mexico. North Carolina is a transshipment area as well as a destination state for cocaine, and crack cocaine is a serious problem in inner-city communities. Heroin availability is low but growing, primarily in major eastern and central metropolitan centers, and there are several sources of supply including Mexico, South America, and southeast and southwest Asia.

Club drugs, particularly MDMA (ecstasy), are increasing in popularity with young people (ages 15–25), and GHB, LSD, PCP, ketamine, and psilocybin are also present in the state. Prescription narcotics use remains widespread throughout the state. Vietnamese organized crime groups are believed to control most of the wholesale distribution of MDMA in the state. Federal drug seizures in 2007 included 5,061.4 kilograms of marijuana, 385.5 kilograms of cocaine, 14.0 kilograms of methamphetamine, 10.4 kilograms of heroin, and 566,380 dosage units of MDMA. In addition, over 16,000 cultivated marijuana plants were destroyed as part of the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).