Even drug dealers are dealing with the recession.
Prices for a kilo of cocaine have risen from around $22,000 to $24,000 to upwards of $26,000 to $30,000 per kilo, according to Bryan Dixson, a narcotics detective with the Richmond Police Department.
By comparison, a kilo in Baltimore cost a whopping $32,000, or up 45 percent from two years ago. You can read about Baltimore’s drug trade in this cool Baltimore Sun story.
The higher price tag has driven down demand, Dixson sad, because many lower-level drug dealers aren’t willing to pay the inflated price. Still, he said that he’s seen no change in the number of users.
To be sure, Richmond’s drug detectives don’t conduct quarterly research on the drug business, but they tend to hear about it from confidential sources and from dealers who’ve been arrested. And most, like Dixson, are particularly concerned with preventing violent crime.
The distribution networks work like any manufacturer with a series of middle-men. The kilo-level dealers don’t sell on the street, Dixson said. Cocaine that reaches Richmond generally of the drugs coming from Mexico, and Richmond drug dealers generally pick it up in Atlanta or New York. Marijuana comes from more sources, included grown around Richmond and in the western part of the state.
The city’s central location on I-95 makes it a convenient hub for illicit traffickers.
Dixson’s division fights drug dealing because it often leads to violent crime, which is the department’s bigger concern.
“The street dealers rob one another, and then they are more likely to shoot.”
Dixson also said that far fewer people in the city of Richmond are selling drugs in the open. In part that’s because some of the housing projects have been demolished or closed.
One of the biggest challenges for drug dealers is laundering money.
Dixson said he sees a lot of drug dealers with shell companies, often land care businesses or tied up in property or cars. And of course there are wads of cash — up to $250,000 in some cases. (More on that in a later BizSense story).
Other times the front is illegal gambling or night clubs.
In April, Brandon Tanner, a 50-year-old owner of a local trucking company was arrested for possession of drugs. You can read that T-D story here.
Tanner had a stripper pole in his home, which was just north of West Cary Street.
Aaron Kremer is the BizSense editor. The Wire is his favorite show of all time. Please send news tips to [email protected].
Even drug dealers are dealing with the recession.
Prices for a kilo of cocaine have risen from around $22,000 to $24,000 to upwards of $26,000 to $30,000 per kilo, according to Bryan Dixson, a narcotics detective with the Richmond Police Department.
By comparison, a kilo in Baltimore cost a whopping $32,000, or up 45 percent from two years ago. You can read about Baltimore’s drug trade in this cool Baltimore Sun story.
The higher price tag has driven down demand, Dixson sad, because many lower-level drug dealers aren’t willing to pay the inflated price. Still, he said that he’s seen no change in the number of users.
To be sure, Richmond’s drug detectives don’t conduct quarterly research on the drug business, but they tend to hear about it from confidential sources and from dealers who’ve been arrested. And most, like Dixson, are particularly concerned with preventing violent crime.
The distribution networks work like any manufacturer with a series of middle-men. The kilo-level dealers don’t sell on the street, Dixson said. Cocaine that reaches Richmond generally of the drugs coming from Mexico, and Richmond drug dealers generally pick it up in Atlanta or New York. Marijuana comes from more sources, included grown around Richmond and in the western part of the state.
The city’s central location on I-95 makes it a convenient hub for illicit traffickers.
Dixson’s division fights drug dealing because it often leads to violent crime, which is the department’s bigger concern.
“The street dealers rob one another, and then they are more likely to shoot.”
Dixson also said that far fewer people in the city of Richmond are selling drugs in the open. In part that’s because some of the housing projects have been demolished or closed.
One of the biggest challenges for drug dealers is laundering money.
Dixson said he sees a lot of drug dealers with shell companies, often land care businesses or tied up in property or cars. And of course there are wads of cash — up to $250,000 in some cases. (More on that in a later BizSense story).
Other times the front is illegal gambling or night clubs.
In April, Brandon Tanner, a 50-year-old owner of a local trucking company was arrested for possession of drugs. You can read that T-D story here.
Tanner had a stripper pole in his home, which was just north of West Cary Street.
Aaron Kremer is the BizSense editor. The Wire is his favorite show of all time. Please send news tips to [email protected].