Atlanta Vice?: Atlanta Area a Global Center for Drug Distribution
Jack Killorin, the Director of the Atlanta High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA), announced to the press that drug enforcement efforts have resulted in a rise in drug prices and decrease in drug quality in the metro Atlanta area. Killorin cited the HIDTA’s and Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) shutting down of two drug trafficking operations in December and seizure of millions of dollars worth of drugs and $10 million in cash. Killorin further noted the DEA’s large seizures of methamphetamine in Gwinnett County over the last three years, including a record-setting $50 million worth of crystal meth seized in Buford, Georgia, in 2006.
Killorin also described to Atlanta as “Atlanta Vice,” in reference to the popular 1980s television show “Miami Vice,” minus the palm trees, bikinis, speed boats and white sports jackets. According to federal authorities, Atlanta has become a global center for drug distribution, receiving a range of drugs, including powder and crack cocaine, crystal meth and ecstasy, mostly from Mexican drug cartels, and distributing them to cities in the East and Midwest. Moreover, the drug trade has moved into the affluent suburbs, with drug traffickers renting houses on large, private lots to shield them from surveillance. Killorin also stated, on the positive side, that Georgia’s 2005 law restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine, a necessary ingredient for methamphetamine production, has reduced the number of meth labs which used to riddle north Georgia, although meth produced in Mexico has filled the vacuum.