ARCHIVED Product No. 2007-R0813-014 Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis June 2007 U.S. Department of Justice Preface recent law enforcement reporting, information This assessment provides a strategic overview of obtained through interviews with law enforcement the illicit drug situation in the Michigan High Inten- and public health officials, and available statistical sity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), highlighting data. The report is designed to provide policymak- significant trends and law enforcement concerns ers, resource planners, and law enforcement officials related to the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs. with a focused discussion of key drug issues and The report was prepared through detailed analysis of developments facing the Michigan HIDTA region. Area of HIDTA County MI Michigan HIDTA Major City 250,000 + Green Bay WI MI 100,000 - 249,999 IA less than 100,000 PA " International Airport n IL OH a IN g Interstate i §¨¦43 h WV c MO KY VA i §¨¦75 M WISCONSIN e k a L MICHIGAN Milwaukee Grand Flint Rapids §¨¦69 GENESEE 69 96 ¨¦§ 94 KENT §¨¦ 75 MACOMB ¨¦§ Lansing ¨¦§ OAKLAND ALLEGAN §¨¦196 ¨¦§69 §¨¦96 Ann Arbor VAN BUR EN Kalamazoo WAYNE 94 Detroit 94 §¨¦ ILLINOIS "o ¨¦§ KALAMAZOO WASHTENAW CANADA 69 DETROIT METROPOLITAN ¨¦§ WAYNE COUNTY 275 Chicago §¨¦94 §¨¦ Lake Erie ¨¦§80 §¨¦94 INDIANA §¨¦80 To le do OHIO Figure 1. Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. This assessment is an outgrowth of a partnership between the NDIC and HIDTA Program for preparation of annual assessments depicting drug trafficking trends and developments in HIDTA Program areas. The report has been vetted with the HIDTA, is limited in scope to HIDTA jurisdictional boundaries, and draws upon a wide variety of sources within those boundaries. This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis Strategic Drug Threat Drug Trafficking Organizations, Developments Criminal Groups, and Gangs • Methamphetamine production in the Michigan Drug trafficking organizations are complex HIDTA region has declined significantly as a organizations with highly defined command- result of successful law enforcement initiatives, and-control structures that produce, transport, public awareness campaigns, and state-level and/or distribute large quantities of one or more precursor control legislation. Methamphetamine illicit drugs. laboratory incidents1 in Michigan HIDTA coun- Criminal groups operating in the United States ties decreased 44 percent from 2005 to 2006. are numerous and range from small to moderately sized, loosely knit groups that distribute one or • Clandestinely produced fentanyl, often mixed more drugs at the retail and midlevels. with and sold as heroin, has emerged as a seri- Gangs are defined by the National Alliance of ous drug threat in the Detroit area. At least 212 Gang Investigators’ Associations as groups or fentanyl-related overdose deaths have occurred associations of three or more persons with a in the Detroit area since August 2005. Some common identifying sign, symbol, or name, the abusers knowingly abuse fentanyl, while others members of which individually or collectively unwittingly use it under the impression that it is engage in criminal activity that creates an heroin. The large numbers of overdoses and atmosphere of fear and intimidation. deaths have been a deterrent to some abusers; however, the higher potency of heroin/fentanyl Buren). (See Figure 1 on page 1.) Detroit, Flint, combinations appeals to some heroin abusers in Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo are the primary the area who seek a more intense euphoric drug markets in the region; they serve as regional effect. distribution centers for many smaller drug markets within the HIDTA region as well as markets in the • Heroin use is increasing throughout Michigan, midwestern and northeastern United States. particularly among young female Caucasian abusers. Some abusers of prescription narcotics Detroit, the largest and most influential drug such as OxyContin substitute heroin when they market in Michigan, is connected to Canada by the have difficulty obtaining pharmaceuticals. Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tun- nel. (See Figure 2 on page 3.) The Ambassador •Chaldean2 criminal groups in the HIDTA region Bridge is the world’s busiest commercial border are increasingly distributing MDMA, powder crossing. Illicit drugs, particularly high-potency cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana. They Canadian marijuana and MDMA (3,4-methylene- also engage in fraud and money laundering dioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), activities. Metropolitan Detroit is home to the are transported to Detroit from Canada; in return largest Chaldean population outside Iraq, and cocaine and bulk currency derived from U.S. drug this population is expected to grow as additional sales are smuggled back into Canada. Despite Iraqi refugees enter the United States and relo- Detroit’s proximity to Canada and an international cate to the Detroit area. border, most of the cocaine and commercial-grade marijuana available in metropolitan area originates HIDTA Overview in locations at or near the U.S.–Mexico border. Her- The Michigan HIDTA comprises five counties oin is transported to the area from New York City, in eastern Michigan (Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, Chicago, southern California, and Florida. Detroit Washtenaw, and Wayne) and four counties in west- is a regional distribution center for cocaine, mari- ern Michigan (Allegan, Kalamazoo, Kent, and Van juana, heroin, and MDMA, supplying markets 1. Methamphetamine laboratory incidents include seizures of laboratories, dumpsites, and chemicals and equipment. 2. Chaldeans are ethnically Iraqi individuals who practice the Catholic religion. 2 This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED National Drug Intelligence Center ¨¦§696 UV3 ¨¦§96 VU102 VU102 UV53 Detroit City UV5 UV10 Airport UV1 o ¨¦§94 75 ¨¦§96 ¨¦§ ¨¦§96 UV3 ¤£24 UV39 DETROIT Detroit ")D Belle Isle VU153 VU153 ")D")D D Grosse Isle 275 ") ¨¦§ Ambassador Bridge Detroit-Windsor Tunnel r e v 401 ¤£12 i VU Windsor R ")3 t i 75 o ¨¦§ r t e n| D ¨¦§94 Port of Detroit VU401 Detroit Metropolitan La Salle ")3 Wayne County o Is. Fighting Te cu m seh UV85 )D Port of Entry | Major Seaport 75 ¨¦§ o Major Airport Grosse Ile CANADA U.S. Roads Interstate 275 24 Grosse ¨¦§ ¤£ Ile o U.S. Highway Minor Road Canadian Roads Expressway Primary Highway Figure 2. International border between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. throughout Michigan and several other states, the Kalamazoo-Grand Rapids area are transported including Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, from Chicago and, to a lesser extent, Detroit and the and West Virginia. Southwest Border area. Local drug production, par- ticularly methamphetamine production, also occurs Flint’s location approximately 70 miles north of but has declined significantly as a result of recent Detroit facilitates drug trafficking and gang activity pseudoephedrine sales restrictions, law enforcement within the area. Drug distributors in Flint are typi- initiatives, and public awareness campaigns. Local cally supplied by traffickers in Detroit; however, college students contribute to drug availability and some local distributors have contacts in Chicago abuse by obtaining illicit drugs, primarily MDMA and Southwest Border states from whom they and pharmaceuticals, in their hometowns and bring- directly purchase wholesale quantities of drugs. ing them back to the Kalamazoo-Grand Rapids area for limited distribution and personal use. Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo are located in southwestern Michigan, midway between Detroit and Chicago. Most of the illicit drugs available in 3 This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis Drug Threat Overview heroin or cocaine, posed a serious drug threat in the Cocaine, particularly crack cocaine, poses the Detroit area in late 2005 and in 2006. most significant drug threat in the Michigan HIDTA region; the distribution and abuse of the drug have a Drug Trafficking profound impact on law enforcement and public Organizations health resources. Crack cocaine conversion typically African American drug trafficking organiza- occurs in urban areas of the HIDTA region. Crack tions (DTOs) and criminal groups are the predomi- cocaine abusers often commit crimes such as bur- nant traffickers in the HIDTA region. They glary, robbery, theft, and retail fraud to obtain the distribute wholesale quantities of cocaine, mari- drug, while distributors commit assault and homi- juana, and heroin and are also emerging as distribu- cide to control their local drug markets and protect tors of MDMA that they obtain from Canada. their trafficking operations. Methamphetamine pro- Some of these African American traffickers have duction, previously a significant threat in western made direct connections with Mexican sources and HIDTA counties, significantly declined during 2006, are transporting drugs directly from Southwest largely as a result of statewide legislation enacted in Border states into Michigan. African American dis- December 2005 restricting the sale of and access to tributors in the HIDTA region also engage in drug- products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine