Puerto Rico
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse
Puerto Rico
Profile of Drug Indicators
March 2007
ONDCP Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse staff compiled this profile by using the most recent data
available from open sources. The data presented are as accurate as the sources from which they were
drawn. The information contained in this profile should not be used to rank or compare States or
jurisdictions, due to differences in data collection and reporting methods.
Puerto Rico
The following profile contains information on demographics, political figures, programs,
crime, drug use, drug trafficking, and enforcement statistics.
Demographics
¾ Population (2005 American Community Survey): 3,865,2801
¾ Race/ethnicity (2005 American Community Survey): 76.4% white; 7.2%
black/African American; 0.2% American Indian/Alaska Native; 0.2% Asian; 0.0%
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander; 11.1% other; 4.9% two or more races; 98.5%
Hispanic/Latino (of any race)2
Politics
¾ Governor: Aníbal S. Acevedo Vilá3
¾ Secretary of State: Fernando J. Bonilla 4
¾ U.S. House of Representatives Member: Luis G. Fortuño5
¾ Capital: San Juan6
Programs/Initiatives
¾ High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA)7
Designated in 1994, the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA is responsible for the
islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John.
Crime and Drug-Related Crime
¾ During 2005, there were 766 homicides known to law enforcement in Puerto Rico.8
Number of Index Offenses Known to Police, Puerto Rico, 2005
Type of Offense
2005
Murder/non-negligent manslaughter
766
Forcible rape
169
Robbery 5,550
Aggravated assault
3,094
Burglary 17,191
Larceny-theft 28,976
Motor vehicle theft
9,299
¾ Law enforcement in Puerto Rico reported 658 juvenile drug arrests from January
through June, 2005. During full year 2004, there were 1,260 juvenile drug arrests in
Puerto Rico.9
Enforcement
¾ As of October 31, 2005, there were 21,021 full-time law enforcement employees in
Nevada (19,106 officers and 1,915 civilians).10
ONDCP Clearinghouse
2
Trafficking and Seizures
¾ Cocaine smuggling into the United States via Puerto Rico has declined to low levels
as smuggling via the U.S.–Mexico border remains very high. Drug seizure data
suggest that the practice of smuggling cocaine shipments through to East Coast points
of entry or through Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands has decreased since 2000,
now accounting for less than 26 percent of all cocaine seizures arriving in the U.S.11
¾ During 2005, approximately 4 metric tons of cocaine was seized arriving in the U.S.
in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.12
¾ The smuggling of illicit drugs into Puerto Rico in maritime cargo is expected to
increase over the next 4 years. The enactment of the Central America–Dominican
Republic–United States Free Trade Agreement in 2005—legislation designed to
eliminate trade barriers and tariffs among the cosignatories— is being implemented
by Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and
Nicaragua on a rolling basis over the next year. Also, the construction of the Port of
the Americas in Ponce, Puerto Rico, is expected to be completed in the next 2 to 3
years. As commercial activity through Puerto Rico increases, drug trafficking
organizations in South and Central America may divert some additional drug flow
away from the Central America–Mexico land corridor to the Caribbean corridor,
particularly Puerto Rico.13
¾ Intelligence suggests that the transportation of illicit drugs into Puerto Rico via speed
boats will remain significant.14
Courts
¾ During FY 2006, approximately half (51.1%) of the Federally sentenced defendants
in Puerto Rico had committed drug offenses. Approximately 57% (167 offenses) of
these offenses involved powder cocaine.15
Federal Sentencing Statistics, Drug Offenses, Puerto Rico, FY 2006
Drug Type Involved
Offenses
% of Drug Offenses
Powder cocaine
167
57.4%
Crack cocaine
59
20.3
Heroin 57
19.6
Marijuana 5
1.7
Other 3
1.0
¾ Drug Courts16
As of November 22, 2006, there were 11 drug courts in existence or being planned in
Puerto Rico. Eight drug courts had been in existence for more than 2 years, 2 were
being planned and 1 drug court that had been resurrected. There were no additional
drug courts in operation or being planned in Puerto Rico at that time.
Treatment
¾ There were 2,033 admissions to drug/alcohol treatment in Puerto Rico during 2005.17
This is down from 2,242 treatment admissions in 2004.18 Additionally, there were
3,709 treatment admissions during 2003.19
ONDCP Clearinghouse
3
Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions, Puerto Rico, 2003-2005
2003
2004
2005
Drug Type
#
%
#
%
#
%
Alcohol
only
1,026 27.7% 498 22.2% 542 26.7%
Alcohol
w/secondary
drug
85 2.3 136 6.1 97 4.8
Cocaine
(smoked)
31 0.8 33 1.5 33 1.6
Cocaine
(other
route)
133 3.6 70 3.1 75 3.7
Marijuana
287 7.7 128 5.7 131 6.4
Heroin
2,143 57.8 1,367 61.0 1,147 56.4
Other opiates
n/a
n/a n/a n/a 2 0.1
Sedatives
1 0.0 1 0.0 n/a n/a
Tranquilizers
n/a n/a 1 0.0 n/a n/a
Other
unknown
3 0.1 8 0.4 6 0.3
Total
3,709 100.0 2,242 100.0 2,033 100.0
Sources
1 U.S. Census Bureau Web site, 2005 American Community Survey: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
2 Ibid.
3 Puerto Rico Governor Web site: http://www.fortaleza.gobierno.pr/
4 Puerto Rico Secretary of State Web site: http://www.estado.gobierno.pr/mensaje.htm
5 U.S. House of Representatives Web site: http://clerk.house.gov/
6 Central Intelligence Agency, 2007 World Factbook, Puerto Rico section:
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rq.html
7 Office of National Drug Control Policy Web site, Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area section: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/hidta/pr_vi.html
8 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States, 2005, September 2006:
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/
9 Policia de Puerto Rico Web site, Menores Intervenidos en Puerto Rico por cometer Faltas:
http://www.gobierno.pr/PoliciaPR/Estadisticas/MenoresIntervenidosEnPuertoRicoPorCometerFaltas.htm
10 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States, 2005, September 2006:
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/
11 National Drug Intelligence Center, National Drug Threat Assessment 2007, October 2006:
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs21/21137/index.htm
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 United States Sentencing Commission, FY 2006 Federal Sentencing Statistics, Puerto Rico section:
http://www.ussc.gov/JUDPACK/2006/pr06.pdf
16 Office of Justice Programs Drug Court Clearinghouse and Technical Assistance Project, Summary of
Drug Court Activity by State and County, November 22, 2006:
http://spa.american.edu/justice/publications/us_drugcourts.pdf
17 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Substance Abuse Treatment Data, Puerto
Rico, 2005: http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/webt/quicklink/PR05.htm
18 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Substance Abuse Treatment Data, Puerto
Rico, 2004: http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/webt/quicklink/PR04.htm
19 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Substance Abuse Treatment Data, Puerto
Rico, 2003: http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/webt/quicklink/PR03.htm
ONDCP Clearinghouse
4
This Drug Indicator Profile was prepared by the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP) Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse is
funded by ONDCP and is a component of the National Criminal Justice Reference
Service. For further information concerning the contents of this Profile or other drug
issues, please contact:
ONDCP Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse
PO Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Web Site: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
Email Form: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/utilities/contact.html
