The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently released a report on May 9 with details about its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), which is dedicated to compiling data in relation to illegal drugs and trafficking trends within the U.S.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram introduced the report to warn of the many threats to public safety as well as national security. “The shift from plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, to synthetic, chemical-based drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine, has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced,” Milgram said. “At the heart of the synthetic drug crisis are the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their associates, who DEA is tracking world-wide. The suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and money launderers all play a role in the web of deliberate and calculated treachery orchestrated by these cartels. DEA will continue to use all available resources to target these networks and save American lives.”

Individual chapters include the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels and their reach within the U.S., and individual substances such as fentanyl, nitazenes, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, “marijuana,” controlled prescription drugs, new psychoactive substances, illicit finance, and DEA response.

The chapter on cannabis explained that legalization on a state level illegal cannabis continues to thrive. “Despite these measures, the black market for marijuana continues, with substantial trafficking by Mexican cartels, and Chinese and other Asian organized crime groups profiting from illegal cultivation and sales, as well as exploitation of the ‘legal’ market,” the DEA wrote. “The price of marijuana in illegal U.S. markets has remained largely stable for years, even as the potency of marijuana has increased exponentially.”

The administration noted the increase in “average Delta-9 THC Potency in Marijuana” between 1977-2022, as according to information provided by the University of Mississippi Marijuana Potency Monitoring Program. In 1977, the percentage of potency was recorded at approximately 1%, followed by approximately 3% in 1982, 1987, and 1992. This rose to 4% in 1997, 6% in 2002, 8% in 2007, 12% in 2012, 15% in 2017, and finally 16% in 2022. “The potency of THC in leafy marijuana is at an all-time high, increasing the potential risk of negative effects on users of any form of the drug, and on children who may consume edibles made with these substances,” the DEA stated.

The rest of the DEA report focuses on Asian organized crime and illegal cultivation. “Many of these home-grows pretend to operate under business registrations granted by state licensing authorities in jurisdictions where marijuana cultivation and sales are ‘legal’ at the state level but, absent overt evidence such as the trafficking of marijuana across state lines or the commission of non-drug crimes such as money laundering and human trafficking, it can be difficult for law enforcement to immediately identify violations or discover an illegal grow,” the DEA explained. The administration’s Dallas Division seized $2.8 million in cannabis linked to four Chinese nationals growing illegally in Oklahoma. Two of those nationals were convicted of drug trafficking in January 2024.

The report also described the rise in emergency room visits by children, as well as the environmental damage caused by illegal cultivation.

The University of Mississippi’s potency percentages pale in comparison to the potency percentages of current cannabis strains. In March, a study analyzed Colorado cannabis samples to determine if the THC percentages were accurate, and found that more than 70% of products were at least 15% higher than reported. Many THC potency reports showed a range between 12.8%-19.3%, as well as a higher range of 28.07%-31.28%. “THC levels averaged 9.75% back in 2009, based on testing of DEA-seized cannabis flower,” wrote report author Anna Schwabe, a professor at University of Colorado, Boulder. “Today, levels reportedly surpass 35%, though they’re not as common as consumers have been led to believe. DEA-seized cannabis flower averaged 13.88% in 2019, which is closer to my observed mean of 14.98% than the reported mean of my samples, which was 20.27%-24.10%.”

According to Headset data obtained by SFGATE, the median THC potency for cannabis has decreased over the past six months in California, with a 7% decrease in the past three months. In December, the average potency levels were recorded at 30.7%, but dropped to 28.5% in March. The potency shifted due to new regulations on cannabinoid testing, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. According to Zach Eisenberg, Anresco Laboratories vice president, the potency decrease was an expected result. “We certainly heard from customers and potential customers that they’re seeing potency values dropping at other laboratories,” Eisenberg said to SFGATE. “Some labs were even proactively saying, ‘Be prepared for our results to be lower after this change.’”

In reality, the more recent reports are just reflecting current potency percentages. “I highly doubt anything has changed in terms of the actual composition of the cannabis products,” Eisenberg told SFGATE. High Times received a statement from Vicente LLP attorney Andrea Golan, based in Los Angeles, about the recent change. “For years, the efficacy of cannabis lab test results has been widely discussed across the California cannabis industry due to inflated potency test results and inconsistencies in results due to labs using different methodologies for testing cannabis,” Golan said. “The change in law ends the practice of shopping for labs with less strict testing methods in order to inflate THC content. Therefore, rather than cannabis getting weaker, recent changes may now provide a more accurate reflection of true potency.”

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Police seized nearly five tons of methamphetamine in Fiji, equivalent to more than $2 billion in Fijian dollars (approximately $886.2 million USD). The first Jan. 14 raid resulted in seizure of more than three tons of meth at a warehouse on the western side of Fiji’s main island near the country’s main international airport, according to an OCCRP report.

The second raid took place Jan. 20, with Fiji’s public prosecutor sanctioning charges against 13 people in connection to the raids, RNZ reports. Those accused have been charged with unlawful possession of illicit drugs, according to a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

Drugs Down Under: The First of Many Possible Busts to Come

“Of the 13 accused persons, two are also charged with unlawful importation of illicit drugs. It is alleged that the accused persons without lawful authority, facilitated the importation and were found in possession of 4.8 tonnes of methamphetamines, an illicit drug, the statement says.

The ODPP also said that three of the 13 suspects were also charged with possession of property suspected of being proceeds of crime.

“It is alleged that the three accused persons were found in possession of cash (local and overseas currency) suspected of being proceeds of crime,” the statement said.

One of the 13, Justin Ho, was previously charged for exporting 2015.7 grams of cocaine from Sydney in 2018 while working as a flight attendant for Fiji Airways. Ho, and the other suspect, ended up walking free after the drugs went missing from the Namaka Police Station and the ODPP filed to discontinue proceedings.

A Fijian police officer was also charged in relation to the incident, after allegedly scooping up what was believed to be crystal meth powder from the first drug bust. The officer also allegedly fled the scene on Jan. 14 and was apprehended two days later.

An Ongoing Investigation

A Fiji court proceeded to grant bail to the 13 people charged after questioning and holding them in custody for 48 hours per country law. They are still under a curfew and must appear at the Lautoka High Court on Friday. 

Fiji Police are now working with their nearby counterparts, like the Australian Federal Police and the Pacific Transnational Crime and Coordination Centre, and expect to make additional arrests.

According to Fiji Police Assistant Police Commissioner Mesake Waqa, the drugs arrived in Fiji in late December and the country was “being used as a transit point and that the methamphetamine was destined for a foreign market.” Waqa also said that the exchange of the meth shipment was believed to have been made outside of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, and the packages were delivered through a barge.

“The Fiji Police Force will not be making further comments on the ongoing investigation until major developments are made,” Waqa said.

Fiji Leaders Unite Against Drugs

According to the Fiji Sun, three chiefs — Tui Nadi Ratu Vuniyani Navuniuci, Tui Sabeto Ratu Viliame Mataitoga and Tui Nawaka Ratu Joeli Naevo — have also united to address the issue and naming their concern about drugs in the country.

It’s looking as though this incident could ignite a War on Drugs in the region, as entities like the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Nadi Town Council also urged for swift action to address what they called a “serious and worrying issue.” 

Dr. Ram Raju, president of the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that these drug busts were staggering and that Fiji is vulnerable acting as a middle country for illegal drug trade. Raju similarly called for major, sweeping measures, even suggesting that Fiji be deemed as “smoke and drug free.”

Pio Tikoduadua, Fijian Parliament minister and member, pointed to the need for legislative review and strengthening the country’s laws around illicit drug trade and border control. Tikoduadua also called for harsher penalties on those involved in the drug trade and building effective processes for police investigations while emphasizing that education is one of the best tools to discourage Fijians from using drugs.

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A multi-million dollar cocaine smuggling attempt was thwarted last month when Chinese customs officials discovered the cocaine had been converted into liquid form and disguised as white wine. 

According to the South China Morning Post, two men local to Hong Kong were arrested in connection with a shipping container sent from Brazil to Hong Kong which was carrying 706 bottles of red wine, white wine and juice. The container was flagged for inspection at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound due to Brazil’s status as a high-risk trafficking area based on the frequency of past narcotics seizures. 

Assistant Superintendent Jacky Tsang Kin-bon of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department told the South China Morning Post that the monetary value of the amount of cocaine seized was in the hundreds of millions of dollars range. 

“A total of 444 kilograms of suspected liquid cocaine was discovered in the 37 boxes,” Tsang Kin-bon said. “The estimated street value of the haul is about HK $490 million.”

Tsang Kin-bon indicated that what tipped authorities off to the suspicious contents of the container was that several of the boxes appeared to have been resealed, specifically boxes of white wine, packed in 37 boxes which were supposed to be packaged with four three-liter bags of white wine a piece. These bags tested positive for cocaine. 

The container had been sent by plain clothes officers with Hong Kong customs to Yuen Long where they waited for someone to come collect it. When no one did, it was sent to a yard in Kwai Chung where it was placed under 24-hour surveillance. Eventually, a 50-year-old man turned up to collect the container. He was later arrested along with his 38-year-old accomplice, neither of which was named by the South China Morning Post. 

Superintendent Lui Chi-tak of customs’ ports and maritime command told the South China Morning Post that “drug traffickers took every effort and deployed sophisticated methods to conceal the narcotic in an attempt to evade customs detection.” Senior Superintendent Wong added that this was the largest liquid cocaine bust by weight in the 20 years they’ve been keeping records of such things. 

Customs officials told the Post that the younger suspect was arrested on Saturday and the older a day later. The younger suspect was allegedly responsible for arranging the cargo’s transport from Brazil To Hong Kong and the older suspect was allegedly responsible for collecting and storing the drugs once on Chinese soil. 

As of Monday when the report was published, both suspects were still being held for questioning. Tsang Kin-bon told the post that the increase in product shipments around the holidays is often used as cover for the smuggling of narcotics.

“We believe the drug trafficking syndicate tried to take advantage of the busy logistics services before the Christmas and New Year holidays to smuggle the narcotic into the city and evade detection,” Tsang Kin-bon said, also indicating that their investigation revealed the large shipment was intended to supply the increased demand for cocaine around the holiday season (Chinese New Year is on February 10 and for whatever reason I feel compelled to disclose that 2024 is the year of the dragon).

According to the Post, the investigation into this instance of cocaine trafficking is still ongoing and customs officials have not ruled out further arrests. Trafficking of a dangerous drug in Hong Kong is punishable by a life sentence in prison and a fine of up to $5 million.

“Customs will continue to use its professionalism and determination to prevent illegal drugs from being smuggled into the city, thereby safeguarding the country’s southern gateway,” Senior Superintendent Wong said.

Not for nothing, but cocaine traffickers appear to be getting much more creative with their smuggling techniques. Not only has cocaine been disguised as white wine, but a cursory Google search will show that in recent months it has also been disguised as pasta noodles, charcoal, almond syrup, and bananas and that’s just since last June. Between that, and the constant barrage of headlines concerning kilograms of cocaine washing up on beaches all over the world, it would appear that internationally, narcotics agents are playing a very expensive and futile game of whack-a-mole with cocaine traffickers. 

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A riveting piece published on Wednesday by Reuters brought into focus the response from law enforcement to illicit cannabis production and trafficking in the Spanish region of Catalonia.

“Heavily-armed police officers arrived in a well-to-do Barcelona suburb before dawn to raid a two-storey house that turned out to be packed with 800 marijuana plants growing under powerful lamps,” Reuters journalists Horaci Garcia and Joan Faus wrote. “The recent raid, on which Reuters accompanied the officers as they arrested two Albanian nationals, is part of an almost daily police routine in the Spanish region of Catalonia as it cracks down on the booming illegal production of marijuana, often run by local and international drug gangs.”

Catalonia, home to the majestic city of Barcelona, has a fraught relationship with the Spanish government –– and the tension has extended to cannabis policy. 

It is “now Spain’s top producing region, with most exports channelled by road to France,” according to Reuters, which noted that the region is “attractive because producers can use properties left empty after the bursting of Spain’s property bubble in 2008, the process to evict them is lengthy, theft of electricity does not carry a jail sentence, and marijuana-related crimes carry lighter sentences than in neighbouring countries.”

In 2017, Catalonia legalized cannabis clubs, but an abrupt court ruling in 2021 overturned that law. 

The ruling put the cannabis clubs that had sprung up around Barcelona in legal limbo, but as Reuters noted in its story this week, the clubs now operate under “self-imposed rules,” under which they “grow their own marijuana, only let in adults who can buy up to 60 grams monthly and take 15 days to approve memberships to put off short-term tourists.”

“But many clubs, which are often barely recognisable from outside, do not stick to the rules because they are voluntary,” according to Reuters.

“We believe the lack of (legal) control is causing many problems,” Eric Asensio, head of the Catalan federation of cannabis clubs, told the news service. 

Cultivating cannabis is against the law in Spain. Last year, Spanish lawmakers approved a measure that would authorize medical cannabis treatment in the country.

In November, the country’s “Guardia Civil,” a law enforcement agency in Spain, took down an organization with more than 32 tons of cannabis stored in various cities throughout the country. Police said that it was a record-setting bust.

“The Civil Guard has seized the largest cache of packaged marijuana found so far. The Jardines operation has concluded with the seizure of 32,370.2 kilograms of marijuana buds, the largest seizure of this substance, not only in Spain, but also internationally. Its equivalence in complete plants would be approximately 1,100,000 copies,” Spanish police said at the time.

“The twenty detainees – nine men and eleven women between the ages of 20 and 59 – were part of an organization with offices in Toledo, Ciudad Real, Valencia and Asturias, which controlled the entire drug production and distribution process,” the police continued in the announcement, detailing the arrest. “The investigation began with an inspection by the Civil Guard of several industrial hemp plantations in Villacañas (Toledo). The main [plantation] investigated owned a company with which they acquired the seeds. A second transported and planted them. Another company was in charge of the care, maintenance, collection and drying of the specimens.” 

The police said that the detainees packaged the contraband in “different formats to send them both to places in Spanish territory and to European countries, mainly Switzerland, Holland, Germany and Belgium.”

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Law enforcement officials in Uruguay last week said they busted an international drug ring that had a gnarly way of smuggling its contraband: inside surfboards. 

The BBC reports that Uruguayan police have arrested three Italians with the “help from counter-narcotics police in Spain, Portugal and Italy.” 

“Sniffer dogs had alerted officers in Uruguay to six surfboards containing a total of 50kg (110lb) of cocaine,” according to the outlet. “Police allowed one board to be dispatched in order to track down those receiving it.”

More from the BBC:

“The dogs alerted their handlers to the suspicious package on 23 May. Officers said the boards were uncharacteristically heavy and when they passed them through a scanner, they spotted hidden packages inside. A photo supplied by Uruguay’s interior ministry shows white powder spilling from one of the boards after it had been cut open. Two Italian nationals were arrested by police in Portugal as they went to pick up the cocaine-filled surfboard which police had allowed through. A third Italian citizen, who police say dispatched the drugs from Uruguay to Europe, was detained in Italy.”

A report earlier this year from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that cocaine production has surged to record highs.

The report said that while drug markets were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, “the most recent data suggests this slump has had little impact on longer-term trends.”

“The global supply of cocaine is at record levels. Almost 2,000 tons was produced in 2020, continuing a dramatic uptick in manufacture that began in 2014, when the total was less than half of today’s levels,” according to the UN report.

The report said that the cocaine “surge is partly a result of an expansion in coca bush cultivation, which doubled between 2013 and 2017, hit a peak in 2018, and rose sharply again in 2021.”

“But it is also due to improvements in the process of conversion from coca bush to cocaine hydrochloride. In parallel, there has been a continuing growth in demand, with most regions showing steadily rising numbers of users over the past decade. Although these increases can be partly explained by population growth, there is also a rising prevalence of cocaine use. Interceptions by law enforcement have also been on the rise, at a higher speed than production, meaning that interdiction has contained the growth of the global amount of cocaine available for consumption,” according to the report.

The BBC reported that drug traffickers “are increasingly using Uruguay, which borders Brazil and Argentina, as a transit country to ship drugs from drug-producing parts of South America to Europe.”

Earlier this year, authorities in New Zealand seized more than $300 million worth of cocaine afloat in the Pacific Ocean, calling it a “major financial blow” to traffickers.

According to New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, it was “one of the single biggest seizures of illegal drugs by authorities in this country.”

“There is no doubt this discovery lands a major financial blow right from the South American producers through to the distributors of this product,” Coster said. “While this disrupts the syndicate’s operations, we remain vigilant given the lengths we know these groups will go to circumvent coming to law enforcement’s attention.”

New Zealand Customs Service Acting Comptroller Bill Perry said the bust was “a huge illustration of what lengths organi[z]ed crime will go to with their global drug trafficking operations and shows that we are not exempt from major organi[z]ed criminal drug smuggling efforts in this part of the world.”

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A man who imported one kilogram of cannabis (about 2.2 pounds) from Malaysia into Singapore in 2018 is set to hang after his appeal against the conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Apex Court on Tuesday, October 12.

Channel News Asia reports that Singaporean Omar Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, was sentenced to death in February after being convicted of one count of importing cannabis into Singapore. Bamadhaj was caught smuggling three bundles containing at least one kilogram of cannabis.

The country’s zero-tolerance policy for drugs has led to the hangings of hundreds of people, including dozens of foreigners. 

During a routine border checkpoint at Woodlands Checkpoint late in the night on July 12, 2018, police discovered the bundles Bamadhaj was carrying. His father drove the vehicle, but was found to be unaware of the cannabis bundles.

The Alleged Crime

Bamadhaj agreed to smuggle the cannabis—a Class A drug in Singapore—two days earlier on July 10, 2018 and collected three bundles wrapped in newspapers a day later near a mosque. Bamadhaj allegedly obtained the packages from two friends, Din and Latif. Bamadhaj first said that he agreed to deliver the packages and then said he did not know what they contained.

When asked why there were differences in his accounts, Bamadhaj reportedly replied, “I said that because I was not at the right state of mind. I was feeling high from the stick I had smoked with Din. High to me is like being semi-conscious.”

On Tuesday, Bamadhaj’s lawyer Hassan Esa Almenoar said there was reasonable doubt as to whether Bamadhaj imported the drugs knowingly or not, and said it was “difficult to conclude that he planned all this”.

Bamadhaj argued that the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers had coerced him into admitting to the crime, threatening him, saying, “If you refuse to admit to this, I will throw both you and your father to be hanged.”

Tourists who smoke pot may be in for a bit of culture clash if they choose to visit Singapore—a famously intolerant country with penalties for drugs reaching up to death by hanging. Singapore applies corporal and capital punishments to foreigners—going beyond what other drug-free countries do.

In  2016, when a Nigerian named Chijioke Obioha was hanged in Singapore for possession of 2.6 kilograms of pot.

Singapore and Cannabis

Some countries in Asia are exceptionally intolerant when it comes to drugs. In 2014, Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee did six months of hard time in jail after being busted with 100 grams of cannabis in China. But Singapore’s punishments for drugs make China’s punishments look like a cake walk.

In Singapore, you can be jailed for failing to flush the toilet. Business Insider published an article in 2012, entitled “How to Travel in Singapore Without Getting Caned.” It listed other serious Singaporean “offenses” including selling gum or sipping water on a train. Or standing too close to a child. One graffiti vandal, Mas Selamat bin Kastari, for instance, was slapped with “a terror plot” for political stencil graffiti.

Singapore is one of the worst places on the planet to get caught with pot. Singapore courts can dish out the death penalty to anyone caught with over 500 grams of cannabis—around 1,000 joints. 

Singapore also does hesitate to punish foreigners if they are caught with drugs, unlike other drug-free nations such as Saudi Arabia or China. In those countries, a foreigner caught with drugs would most likely be deported instead.

Singapore doesn’t even need evidence of drug possession to jail a foreigner. Singapore might be the world’s only country that will require drug tests to foreign nationals and then arrest anyone who fails the test.

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One corrupt police officer in California who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes spun a web of lies and deception worthy of a Breaking Bad episode.

On September 7, Rudolph Petersen, 34, pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge for accepting at least $14,000 in cash from a drug trafficker in exchange for escorting massive shipments of pot and other drugs, and searching a police database to supply the trafficker information on suspected snitches, according to  a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Petersen, who served as a Montebello Police Department for about four years, solicited and received several large-sum cash bribes from an alleged gang member and drug trafficker, according to his plea agreement. Prosecutors say Petersen admitted to taking a total of $14,000 in cash bribes since 2018—mostly for transporting a U-Haul filled with weed and sniffing out people suspected of cooperating with other police.

Peterson was the guy on the inside, who had access to sensitive information about plea deals and the individuals involved.

Federal prosecutors say a drug trafficker, identified only as “co-schemer 2,” told Petersen he’d be placed “on his payroll” during a dinner in 2018, and gave him $500 through a middle man. 

“Three months later, Petersen—who was armed and wearing a security guard uniform that resembled an official police uniform—successfully escorted a white U-Haul truck containing what Petersen believed was illegally grown marijuana from Fontana to a location off California State Route 60 near Rowland Heights,” the report reads. “Petersen returned to the residence of Co-Schemer 2, who gave him a paper bag filled with $10,000 in cash. Petersen admitted to escorting at least one additional drug shipment for Co-Schemer 2.”

Petersen also admitted to escorting at least one other drug shipment, prosecutors said.

Additionally, Petersen fessed up to using a law enforcement database to collect information on an individual whom Co-Schemer 2 called a “snitch” who had allegedly helped law enforcement intercept a cocaine shipment. 

For a bribery charge of $500-1,000 per database search, Petersen delivered information about the “snitch” individual to Co-Schemer 2, plus information on others suspected of snitching as well.

Police say that in September 2020, Co-Schemer 2 paid Petersen $1,000 to determine if tracking devices found on vehicles that he and another co-schemer used were planted by a state or federal law enforcement investigation. Petersen admitted to accepting at least $14,000 in bribes.

United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. scheduled a sentencing hearing for January 11, 2022, when Petersen will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Ian V. Yanniello of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering and Racketeering Section is prosecuting this case.

More Alleged Bribes in Central California’s Cannabis Industry

Unfortunately, Petersen’s case isn’t alone in the central California area when it comes to corruption from law enforcement and other people in power, such as public officials.

In February 2019, The FBI investigated whether public officials in Sacramento, California accepted bribes in return for favorable treatment for applicants for licenses to operate cannabis businesses in the city.

Sacramento officials investigated how cannabis business owner Garib Karapetyan and his associates have been able to amass eight licenses to operate dispensaries in the city—one-third of the number of retailers. 

One of Karapetyan’s partners, Ukrainian businessmen Andrey Kukushkin, was one of four men indicted by federal prosecutors for involvement in a scheme.

Even former President Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was implicated at some point in the case. Two other men indicted in the case, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are also associates of Rudy Giuliani.

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