Tying ID Theft to
Meth
Taken from
The President’s Identity Theft Task Force: Combating Identity Theft, A
Strategic Plan (PDF)
”A number of recent reports have focused on the connection between
individual Methamphetamine users and identity theft. Law enforcement
agencies in Albuquerque, Honolulu, Phoenix, Sacramento, Seattle, and other
cities have reported that Meth addicts are engaging in identity and data
theft through burglaries, mail theft, and theft of wallets and purses. In
Salt Lake City, Meth users reportedly are organized by white-supremacist
gangs to commit identity theft. Tellingly, as Meth use has risen sharply
in recent years, especially in the western United States, some of the same
jurisdictions reporting the highest levels of Meth use also suffer from
the highest incidence of identity theft. Some state law enforcement
officials believe that the two increases might be related, and that
identity theft may serve as a major funding mechanism for Meth labs and
purchases. Law enforcement agencies around the country have observed a
steady increase in the involvement of groups and organizations of repeat
offenders or career criminals in identity theft. Some of these
groups—including national gangs such as Hell’s Angels and MS-13—are
formally organized, have a hierarchical structure, and are well-known to
law enforcement because of their longstanding involvement in other major
crimes such as drug trafficking.”
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