State Facts

Population: 5,375,156
Law Enforcement Officers: 16,495
State Prison Population: 36,100
Probation Population: 80,708
Violent Crime Rate National Ranking: 3

Drug Situation: Maryland is situated on the north end of the mid-Atlantic region and is bisected by Interstate 95. Drugs, weapons and illicit proceeds destined for points south of New York City routinely transit the state through Baltimore.

Maryland's drug situation is complicated by the presence of two major metropolitan areas in the state: Baltimore and its surrounding counties in the northern part of the state, and the suburban counties of Washington, DC in southern Maryland.

In addition, Maryland's major seaport in Baltimore contributes to a substantial amount of international drug traffic coming into the state.

Baltimore is deeply affected by the heroin trade, having carried the dubious distinction as one of the most heroin-plagued cities in the nation for over a decade.

2004 Federal Drug Seizures

Cocaine: 111.2 kgs.
Heroin: 10.7 kgs.
Methamphetamine: 0.0 kgs.
Marijuana: 106.4 kgs.
Ecstasy: 69 tablets
Methamphetamine Laboratories: 1 (DEA, state, and local)

Cocaine: Cocaine and crack abuse and distribution pose a significant threat throughout the state of Maryland, particularly in cities situated near Washington, DC.

Law enforcement sources in cities and towns located along the Eastern Shore and in western Maryland also cite crack cocaine as the primary drug threat in their areas.

Violence continues to accompany the cocaine trade in the state.

Wholesale levels of cocaine are readily available via suppliers in New York City and the southwestern U.S.

Heroin: Heroin is abused throughout Maryland but is most problematic in and around the city of Baltimore.

Baltimore is home to higher numbers of heroin addicts and heroin-related crime than almost any other city in the nation and these problems tend to spill over into adjoining counties where many heroin distributors maintain residences.

The enormous demand for heroin in the Baltimore metropolitan area led to an increase in the drug's abuse among teens and young adults, who routinely drive into the city to obtain heroin for themselves and other local abusers.

In the Baltimore metropolitan area, heroin is sold almost exclusively by street name and packaged in gelatin capsules. Highly pure heroin ("raw") marketed toward suburban users is sometimes packaged in vials (much like crack cocaine).

Methamphetamine Lab Seizures: 2000=0, 2001=2, 2002=1, 2003=2, 2004=1

Methamphetamine: Methamphetamine is not in high demand nor is it widely available in the state of Maryland.

Although clandestine methamphetamine laboratories have been seized in the state in the past few years, one of which was large enough to receive classification by EPIC as a "super-lab," the overall problem is minimal.

Drug users in western Maryland, near West Virginia, and young adults involved in the cities' rave scenes are the primary audiences for methamphetamine.

Club Drugs: Baltimore, Maryland maintains a thriving rave and nightclub scene in which club drugs, usually MDMA, are abused.

Club drugs such as Ketamine, GHB and others do not carry the same demand nor availability as MDMA. Notable, however, are recent statements by law enforcement sources that MDMA has become a drug of choice among young, inner-city drug dealers in Baltimore and among young, primarily blue-collar individuals in the western part of the state.

An MDMA laboratory was recently seized in the city of Baltimore.

Marijuana: The most widely abused drug in Maryland, marijuana remains easily available in every part of the state.

Low levels of marijuana cultivation occur in the state, primarily in western Maryland and along the eastern shore, where private farmland and public parkland are conducive to growers' concerns for anonymity.

OxyContin® and Other Prescription Drug Diversion: Until recently, Maryland experienced high levels of pharmaceutical diversion primarily in association with Baltimore's open-air drug markets.

OxyContin®, however, has become the drug of choice among pharmaceutical drug abusers.

Maryland, particularly the city of Baltimore, is becoming a source area for OxyContin® abusers in Virginia and West Virginia, likely due to the enormous scrutiny the drug is under in those two states.

Drug-Violation Arrests: 2000=896, 2001=577, 2002=406, 2003=496, 2004=511

DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams: This cooperative program with state and local law enforcement counterparts was conceived in 1995 in response to the overwhelming problem of drug-related violent crime in towns and cities across the nation.

Since the inception of the MET Program, a total of 436 deployments have been completed nationwide, resulting in 18,318 arrests.

There have been four MET deployments in the state of Maryland since the inception of the program, in Baltimore, Hagerstown, and Annapolis (2).

DEA Regional Enforcement Teams: This program was designed to augment existing DEA division resources by targeting drug organizations operating in the United States where there is a lack of sufficient local drug law enforcement.

This program was conceived in 1999 in response to the threat posed by drug trafficking organizations that have established networks of cells to conduct drug trafficking operations in smaller, non-traditional trafficking locations in the United States.

As of January 31, 2005, there have been 27 deployments nationwide, and one deployment in the U.S. Virgin Islands, resulting in 671 arrests.

There has been one RET deployment in the state of Maryland since the inception of the program, in Baltimore.

Special Topics: The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) supports and assists in the funding of a multi-agency enforcement task force and an Intelligence group in Washington, DC.

In addition, the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department has its own Major Narcotics Branch, and other drug and violent crime-related enforcement operations in place.