DEA: Marianas meth prices up

Street prices for crystal methamphetamine, one of the most commonly abused drugs in the CNMI, have risen considerably in the Mariana islands in recent years, a trend that in turn has created a wider market for the sale of cocaine, a leading Drug Enforcement Administration in Guam said Wednesday.

In a telephone interview, Antonio Marquez, the agent in charge of the DEA’s Guam Resident Office, said the street value for a gram of ice in Guam has spiked in the last three years, amid some fluctuations, from $500 in 2005 to as high as $800 now. The price hikes—a symptom of dealers capitalizing on the rising demand for ice among users and the added risks associated with smuggling it into the region—are also affecting the CNMI.

“Usually, what hits here [in] Guam will affect there,” Marquez said, adding that as ice prices have gone up, they have become comparable to the street value of cocaine, which previously garnered a much higher price on the streets. The result is that while less cocaine is found in the Mariana islands than ice, cocaine has become an equally affordable high and the market for it has expanded.

“Cocaine is slowly dwindling into the island [Guam] and we’ve seen some on Saipan,” he said. “Ice is the poor man’s cocaine and coke’s availability is affecting the market.”

The DEA has long fought to stem the tide of illegal narcotics like ice and cocaine entering Guam and the CNMI. However, a number of factors have made Saipan a viable market for narco-traffickers, he said, such as the availability of visa waivers from key nations in Asia where drugs are produced, he said. The pending federal takeover of local immigration laws will likely mean tighter security at the CNMI’s points of entry and a decline in the availability illicit substances.

“With Saipan, obviously there’s a lot of money to be made and the visa waivers make it easier,” said Marquez, noting that with tighter federal controls “you’re going to be seeing a lot more airport screenings.”

But for now, ice continues to cross into the CNMI’s borders, he said, smuggled aboard ships and aircraft and delivered through the mail. Much of the ice, he added, arrives from Asian locales like southern China and recent seizures in the CNMI have found that it carries a higher purity level than ice sold in other parts of the region.

“We’re trying our best and we appreciate the cooperation we’ve seen from local authorities to keep it out of the community,” said Marquez.

According to DEA statistics, the agency seized more than 1,086 kilograms of ice nationwide in 2007. Meanwhile, a 2005 report by the Centers for Disease Control reveals that 6.2 percent of American students have used ice once or more in their lifetime.