Citation

Chandra S, Yu YL, Bihani V. Glob. Crime 2016; 18(2): 122-139.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/17440572.2016.1179632

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study uses wholesale prices of MDMA for 59 cities in the USA published by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) over the period of 2002-2011 to identify trafficking patterns of MDMA. Price differentials and correlations between pairs of cities are used to infer the presence of a link and the direction of flow of MDMA. The presence of inward and outward links is used to categorise each city as a 'source', 'destination', 'transit', or 'weakly integrated' city. The analysis identified low prices close to the Canadian and Mexican borders, in a number of cities such as Chicago, Miami, New York City, a trio of cities in the Carolinas, and along the West Coast. A number of these cities are linked to large numbers of other cities, indicating hub- or source-like status. The findings generate insights into the status of major US cities in the MDMA trafficking network.

Language: en