NCJ Number
119059
Date Published
1989
Length
61 pages
Annotation
This report of the New Jersey Commission of Investigation derives from its investigation of the dimensions of the cocaine problem in New Jersey and an identification of the organized criminal groups responsible for its importation and distribution.
Abstract
Statistics presented at the outset of the report cover the amount of cocaine seizures by the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Jersey for 1984-1988 as well as the amount and value of cocaine seizures by the New Jersey State Police for 1983-1988. A review of cocaine addiction as a health problem addresses cocaine's progression through society, cocaine use, treatment, drug testing, the cocaine user profile, and the consequences of cocaine addiction. New Jersey is portrayed as a microcosm of a commercial system supporting cocaine distribution. A discussion of distribution routes focuses on Port Newark, airports, highways, and the use of chemicals from New Jersey chemical companies to process cocaine. An analysis of cocaine trafficking in New Jersey considers the nature and operation of the Colombian cartels and the distribution operations of Jamaican posses and the Sicilian Mafia. The breeding of police corruption is also considered. Other major topics discussed are law enforcement's response to New Jersey's cocaine crisis, the crisis in New Jersey's cities, jail overcrowding, the role of education, and the inadvisability of decriminalizing cocaine trafficking and use. Recommendations pertain to a drug-related information network, the cities, education, treatment, the criminal justice system as a whole, and law enforcement.