http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/states/northcarolina.html

Drug Situation: North Carolina has experienced a significant increase in drug trafficking activity, the majority of it due to the influx of Mexican nationals into the state. Since 1980, Raleigh's Hispanic population of immigrants has grown 1,189 percent, for an estimated 72,580 immigrants. Also, since 1980, Charlotte's Hispanic population of immigrants has grown 962 percent, for an estimated 77,092 immigrants. Greensboro's Hispanic immigrants grew 962 percent as well, for an estimated 62,210 immigrants. These figures are only estimates due to the difficulty in identifying the number of immigrants located throughout the state with illegal residency. While the immigrants themselves may not be involved in trafficking, their presence allows traffickers from Mexico to hide within ethnic Mexican communities. They most commonly transport and distribute cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine. In addition, the rapid population growth in areas such as Raleigh has resulted in additional crime, including an increase in drug trafficking activity.

Cocaine: North Carolina is a destination state for cocaine, as well as a staging and transshipment point to the more northern states along the Eastern Seaboard and in the mid-west, including Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cocaine is readily available and major traffickers take advantage of the state's interstate highways, which are major transshipment routes for cocaine being transported from source areas to other states These major source areas are California, Arizona and Texas, with major sources of supply being traffickers based in Mexico. Cocaine is usually shipped in private or rental vehicles. Cocaine loads arriving in North Carolina by Mexican organizations are used to supply crack distribution networks that further present an enormous social threat to North Carolina's inner city communities.


Heroin: Heroin use and availability is extremely low in North Carolina. Many areas of the state, such as Greenville, Durham and Rocky Mount, report that heroin abuse has been limited to an increasingly smaller population of older abusers.

Methamphetamine: Methamphetamine cases have been on the rise in urbanized parts of North Carolina, such as Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Asheville; however, rural communities in many counties of the western part of the state have experienced a surge in methamphetamine trafficking. Primary sources are located in West Coast states, principally California and Arizona, but a significant supply also comes from Mexican traffickers based in northern Georgia, e.g. Gainesville and Dalton. Ethnic Mexican traffickers from these states have been identified as the clandestine manufacturers and sources of supply for methamphetamine in multi-pound quantities. In 2003, the Asheville Post of Duty targeted a large Gainesville-based Mexican methamphetamine trafficking group distributing over 40 pounds monthly to habitual users in western North Carolina. Smaller methamphetamine laboratories are a significant threat in the western portion of the state. Although on average they produce only ounce quantities of meth, they are doubling in number over the recent years and pose a significant safety hazard for first responders. They contribute to crime and social problems in rural counties, and create a considerable resource drain on state and local governments. DEA has joined in an aggressive campaign against meth lab “cooks.� DEA is also actively advising local retail stores about federal laws which govern the sale of listed items, such as psuedoephedrine, iodine, and anhydrous ammonia. The sale of any of these items to someone who is known to or suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine is subject to arrest.