JADE: Mexican cartels supplying area's cocaine

By: Daily Progress Staff | The Daily Progress
Published: November 23, 2008

There was a time when Central Virginia’s crack and cocaine dealers got most of their product from New York City. Now they are outsourcing, as more of the area dealers’ bulk supply is smuggled in from south of the border, according to a local drug enforcement agent.

Put simply, Mexican drug cartels sell their product — powdered cocaine — for less, said Lt. Don Campbell of the Jefferson Area Drug Enfor-cement task force.

“We’re seeing an influx, a lot of the cocaine coming into Charlottesville is coming from the Mexican cartels,” said Campbell, a 23-year law enforcement veteran.

JADE was established in 1995 and is made up of 10 officers from the Charlottesville, Albemarle, University of Virginia and Virginia State Police departments. JADE primarily covers Central Virginia.

A roundup of this year’s seizures so far by JADE shows that marijuana, cocaine and crack seem to be the drugs of choice in the area. Heroin, Ecstasy, OxyContin, psilocybin mushrooms and methamphetamines are the other drugs most commonly seized, but lag far behind the big three.

Crack and cocaine top the street-value list so far this year, with the combined worth of the confiscated drugs reaching nearly a half-million dollars.

Marijuana has been by far the most seized drug, at 21 pounds. But the total street value, somewhere between $21,000 and $105,000, is significantly less than cocaine and crack.

The street value for marijuana depends on the quality, and can range between $1,000 and $5,000 a pound, Campbell said. JADE also has seized 270 marijuana plants this year.

But marijuana is “not a focus” for JADE, Campbell said. Instead, the task force concentrates more on cocaine and crack because violent groups are involved in trafficking the drugs.

So far this year, JADE has seized nearly 7.7 pounds combined of crack and cocaine, up from 5.1 pounds in 2007.

Those figures don’t necessarily mean there has been an increase in cocaine and crack use in the area, Campbell said. Drug seizure totals can fluctuate depending on which dealers JADE busts.

“We got into some bigger players” this year, Campbell said.

Regardless of the increased seizures this year, with the cheaper prices for Mexican-based crack and cocaine, it seems to be a buyer’s market.

Campbell said an ounce of cocaine typically sells for $1,000, but when it comes from Mexico, the same amount goes for about $800. The price difference is about the same for crack.

“If you’ve got the money,” he said, “you can get as much as you want.”