NCJ Number
148020
Date Published
1994
Length
63 pages
Annotation
The Drug Enforcement Administration's Domestic Monitor Program provides intelligence on the source area, cost, and purity of heroin sold at the retail or "street" level in 19 continental U.S. cities and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The data in this report are based on undercover heroin purchases made by the Drug Enforcement Administration on the streets of these cities during the second quarter of calendar year 1993.
Abstract
During this quarter, 183 exhibits were purchased, 175 (96 percent) of which contained heroin. Of these 175 exhibits none were classified as outliers. The purity of these exhibits averaged 36.1 percent, with a low of 2.4 percent in Seattle and a high of 93.8 percent in New York City. A total of 22 exhibits (23 percent of the exhibits that could be classified) were from Southeast Asia, with an average purity of 28.6 percent. Four exhibits (4 percent of the exhibits that could be classified) were from Southwest Asia, with an average purity of 13.0 percent. This is a substantial decrease in number and purity of Southwest Asian exhibits compared with the first quarter of 1993. This is due in part to the development of the South American heroin signature. A total of 51 exhibits (52 percent of exhibits that could be classified) were from Mexico, with an average purity of 24.2 percent. Twenty exhibits (21 percent of the exhibits that could be classified) were from South America, with an average purity of 62.1 percent. A total of 78 exhibits could not be classified. The report presents the average cost per milligram of pure heroin by source area.