DRUG TRAFFICKING

Atlanta Is Main Distribution Center

Even though Mexican drug cartels operate in 195 American cities,
Atlanta, Ga., has been singled out as a main distribution center,
reports USA Today.

Thus, the same criminal organizations creating havoc on the
U.S.-Mexican border are working in Atlanta. In 2008, federal agents
seized $70 million in drug-related cash in Atlanta and $30 million so
far this year.

Atlanta is relatively close to several major U.S. cities and has
access to transportation systems. It has a growing Hispanic community,
especially in suburbs northeast of the city.

"You see Mexican drug-trafficking operations deploying representatives
to hide within these communities in plain sight," said Rodney Benson
of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "They were attempting to blend
into the same communities as those who were hard-working, law-abiding
people."

All parts of the drug trade are represented in Atlanta - drivers,
packagers, money counters and "senior figures," the newspaper reported.

The cartels move marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin by
land from the border to Atlanta, where the narcotics are stored in
houses then transported to distribution centers in the South,
Mid-Atlantic region, New York and New England. Cash is moved along the
same routes, the DEA said.

Atlanta has not seen the same level of violence from the cartels as is
happening on the Mexican border. But more violence is sure to follow
if the operations are not halted.