The Drug Enforcement Administration on Guam says the high price of drugs on island and in the Northern Marianas is fuelling the methamphetamine trade.
The comment follows the recent handing down of a 27-year-sentence to a woman who led an operation smuggling methamphetamine from the Philippines to Guam.
The resident agent in charge says success in busting such operations is the result of a strong relationship between federal and local law enforcers as well as cooperation between agencies such as customs and the postal service.
But Michael Puralewski says the drug situation in the United States territories is different than on the mainland and this is reflected in the price of methamphetamine.
"Normally it's a supply and demand thing but it seems to be slightly skewed because of our location. It's literally - at times it can be as high as 20 times higher in cost than what it would be in California."
The DEA's Michael Puralewski
