Rise in confiscated goods merely shows depth of illegal trade.THE last thing somebody doing something illegal wants is to get caught. That's why not many drug deals are transacted with a Visa card. The biggest bucks flowing through the underground economy are the ones that fuel illicit activities like the drug trade and the sale of counterfeit merchandise. Law enforcement officials are hard pressed to tally the total value of L.A.'s illicit cash trade, but the value of what they do capture, acknowledged to be a mere fraction of the total, illustrates the sheer volume of crime-related transactions. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2002, the latest data available, the wholesale value of the cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin seized in California was about $228 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established in 1973 by President richard m. nixon as part of the Justice Department, thus uniting a number of federal drug agencies that had often worked at cross-purposes. . Cocaine accounted for about three-quarters of the total. DEA DEA - Data Encryption Algorithm spokesman Jose Martinez declined to estimate how much can be attributed to L.A. County, although he did note that "it's safe to say it's happening in any venue where you've got a lot of commerce going on, and L.A.'s a huge port." Additionally, about 70 percent of the methamphetamine seized in the rest of the country is produced in the "super labs" of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , said Martinez. Meanwhile, the market for counterfeit goods is booming. For the year ended Sept. 30, 2002, counterfeit cigarettes with a street value of $38 million were seized in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by the immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. and customs enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States . That's more than eight times the value of illegal smokes confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. the year earlier, according to Kevin Kozak, assistant special agent in charge at the division's Los Angeles office. And if the first half of this fiscal year is any guide, that number ought to be eclipsed. For the six months ended March 31, $22 million in fake cigarettes have been seized. What portion of the overall market those seizures represent is impossible to gauge. "A 40-foot ocean container can generate $1 million in street value," said Kozak. "In China, a 40-foot container can be obtained for less than $100,000." The activity caused cigarette maker Philip Morris to launch an investigation that resulted in lawsuits filed in 2002 against more than 1,900 retailers in the region it alleged were selling counterfeit Marlboros. Local cases represented 70 percent of those that the company filed nationwide, said Jamie Drogin, spokeswoman at Philip Morris USA Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. General information On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc. Even under this new name, Altria continues to own 100% of Philip Morris USA. Inc. The tip of the pirated DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. and CD market, along with the counterfeit apparel market, is growing as well. Authorities seized illegally copied movies and albums with a street value of $28 million in fiscal 2002, a 260 percent increase from the year earlier. Apparel seizures were up 23 percent last year, to $9 million in street value. The activity comes as law enforcement efforts in Miami have forced activity west, making Los Angeles the primary entry point for drugs at a time when trade with Asia has increased. Increased narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. shipments from Mexico, Central America and Thailand, as well as counterfeit cigarettes made in China and South Korea, have all found their way to L.A. On top of it all, the area has the longstanding distinction of being the bank robbery capital of the country. The region making up Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties averages 1,000 bank robberies a year, a tenth of the nationwide total, according to John McEachern, supervisory special agent of the bank robbery squad at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Los Angeles division. Staff Reporter Amanda Bronstad contributed to this article. |
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