Read pages 3-18 of the2020 National Drug Threat Assessmentand answer the following questions:

1. DEA Field Divisions seized a total of 6,951 kilograms of heroin in 2019. How did this quantity compare to heroin seizures in 2018? In what states were the largest amounts of seizures made? What is the significance of seizures primarily occurring in these states and what impact would these seizures have on heroin markets in other areas?

2. Fentanyl has become one of the most prominent drugs found in drug samples analyzed by drug laboratories. What other illicit drug is fentanyl usually found in combination with? Why would fentanyl be combined with this drug? How has this combination impacted overdose deaths?

3. None of the fentanyl or heroin in the illicit drug market is produced domestically; yet, overdose deaths from these two drugs continue to be the primary threat in our communities. Given these facts, and using the NDTA, where is the majority of the heroin and fentanyl in US drug markets coming from and in what percentage of the total US market? How are the drugs getting from the source country into the US?

4. State and local law enforcement agency drug units have very little direct impact on the drug supply at the international level; yet, the information that these units have from their drug investigations is critical to the overall intelligence assessment. How are state and local narcotic unit detectives able to conduct and participate in investigations that can directly impact Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) who smuggle drugs into the US? Given an example of a case that was investigated jointly with the DEA and state and local detectives.

References:

https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2021-02/DIR-008-21%202020%20National%20Drug%20Threat%20Assessment_WEB.pdf