According to a federal agents, a prison gang was operating a racket within the Baltimore City Detention Center in the state of Maryland. Documents filed in federal court by the FBI stated that one gram bags of marijuana were being sold in the jail for $50. Pain killers were being sold for $30 a pill to inmates.
In addition to the contraband drugs, female corrections officers were having sex with the inmates. According to the FBI, four correction officers became pregnant from one inmate.
In an article in the Washington Post, the article says that the names of 14 female guards were written on a wall and that each woman was charging $150 to have sex with an inmate.
(See additional illegal prostitution prices.)
Source: Theresa Vargas, Ann E. Marimow and Annys Shin, “Baltimore jail case depicts a corrupt culture driven by drugs, money and sex,” Washington Post, May 4, 2013.
In 2012, police in New York City arrested 40,661 people for marijuana charges in the city. In 2011, there were 52,220 marijuana arrests, and 52,089 arrests in 2010.
In the first four months of 2013, there were roughly 10,000 arrests for marijuana crimes in New York City.
Across New York State, authorities seized 210 kilos during 2012, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2010, officials seized 2,500 kilos of marijuana.
Source: Brad Hamilton, “‘High’ tolerance: NYC on the road to decriminalizing pot,” New York Post, May 13, 2013.
Between July 2010 to July 2011, there were 45 deaths in the State of Florida that was caused by heroin. In the 2011 to 2012 time period, the number of deaths in the state due to heroin-related causes increased to 77, according to the Medical Examiner Commission.
In the first three moths of 2013, state law enforcement officers handled 948 criminal charges that dealt with heroin, compared to 772 charges in the first three months of 2012.
Admissions for heroin abuse at drug treatment centers also saw an increase. In 2012, there was 316 admissions for heroin abuse in Broward County, an 87 percent increase from the 169 admissions the year before. In Miami-Dade County, the number of heroin admissions increased from 227 to 308 in the first half of 2012.
Police and drug rehab experts attribute the rise in heroin use due to the crackdown on the black market in prescription drugs. Florida previously lead the nation in prescription drug abuse, with up to 7 people a day overdosing on pills in the state.
Source: Audra D.S. Burch, “As pill mills fade away, heroin fills the void,” Miami Herald, May 11, 2013.
In 2012, the United States Border Patrol apprehended 24,481 minors who were attempting to cross the border between the US and Mexico without an adult companion. The number of children apprehended in 2012 was three times the number of children caught in 2008.
In the state of Texas, between 80 to 120 children cross into the state illegally and without an adult each day.
Source: Pamela M. Prah, “Tally of kids entering US illegally, and alone, is surging,” Arizona Daily Star, May 13, 2013.
State officials estimate that there are around 30,000 prostitutes working in the city of Las Vegas. Unlike other areas of Nevada, prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas.
The high number of sex workers in Las Vegas has been impacting the legal brothel industry in Nevada. In 1985, there were 37 registered brothels in Nevada. By 2013, the number of legal brothels dropped to 18. In previous years, up to 400,000 clients would visit the brothels.
There are about 1,000 women who work in the legal brothel industry. Each woman pays over 50 percent of her fees to the brothel owner.
(Prostitute prices around the world.)
Source: David Knowles, “A bad economy and independent prostitutes running Nevada brothels out of business,” New York Daily News, May 10, 2013.
Between 2010 and 2012, food was the most stolen item taken during cargo thefts in the United States, according to Freight Watch International. In 2012, food items were invovled in 19 percent of all cargo thefts, followed by electronic parts being involved in 18 percent of cargo thefts, base materials in 9 percent, and apparel in 8 percent of thefts.
The food has a high resale value on the black market, with food items being sold at 70 cents to the dollar. In comparison, electronic goods are sold at 30 cents to the dollar on the black market.
Source: Venessa Wong, “The Growing Black Market for Stolen Food,” Bloomberg Businessweek, May 8, 2013.
Haitian migrants are paying human smugglers between $1,000 to $1,500 to be smuggled into the US territory of Puerto Rico. The migrants are targeting the island because it is much easier to enter the United States illegally once they are in US territory.
(Prices charged by human smugglers.)
The United States Coast Guard stated that it has captured 352 Haitian migrants who were attempted to smuggle into Puerto Rico in the first half of 2013. In comparison, between October 2010 to September 2011, the US Coast Guard captured 13 Haitian migrants.
Source: Associated Press, “More Haitians Using Puerto Rico As Migrant Route,” NPR, May 6, 2013.
The National Football League (NFL) stated that 7 percent of its players have abused prescription pain relievers according to a report by the Washington Post. The rate of abuse was three times higher than the general population.
In a 2010 study conducted by the Washington University School of Medicine, former NFL players were found to have been abusing opioids at a rate of more than 4 times members of the general population 52 percent of former players also reported to using opioids during their playing career, with 71 percent reporting that they misused the drugs.
The Washington Post conducted a survey of over 500 former players and found that one in four reported that they took prescription medication that they were not comfortable taking after feeling pressure from team doctors.
Source: Sally Jenkins and Rick Maese, “Pain and pain management in NFL spawn a culture of prescription drug use and abuse,” Washington Post, April 13, 2013.
Each year, up to 12,000 people from China are smuggled into the United States without the proper documentation, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Each migrant is believed to have paid up to $50,000 to a human smuggler in order to be smuggled into the United States, creating a $600 Million human smuggling industry in China.
(More human smugglers fees.)
Source: “Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific: A Threat Assessment,” UNODC, April 2013, Executive Summary, page v.
Law enforcement officials in New York City stated that a single cigarette that is sold within jails on Rikers Island costs $30. The price to purchase the entire pack of 20 cigarettes costs $200.
In the streets of NYC, a single cigarette is sold on the black market for $0.50, and a pack of cigarettes is sold in retail stores for $15.
According to the Bronx District Attorney, between January 2012 to April 2013 there have been 85 arrests of tobacco smugglers attempting to bring in contraband cigarettes into city jails. In the first four months of 2013, police have arrested 20 people for cigarette smuggling.
Source: Reuven Blau, “Cigarette bans at city jails fuel $200-a-pack black market, surge in arrests,” New York Daily News, May 5, 2013.
