ARCHIVED Product No. 2007-R0813-016 Milwaukee High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis April 2007 U.S. Department of Justice Preface reporting, information obtained through inter- This assessment provides a strategic overview views with law enforcement and public health of the illicit drug situation in the Milwaukee High officials, and available statistical data. The report Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region, is designed to provide policymakers, resource highlighting significant trends and law enforce- planners, and law enforcement officials with a ment concerns related to the trafficking and abuse focused discussion of key drug issues and devel- of illicit drugs. The report was prepared through opments facing the Milwaukee HIDTA. detailed analysis of recent law enforcement WISCONSIN ¨¦§43 Lake Michigan ¨¦§94 Milwaukee n| ¨¦§94 Waukesha 794 West Allis § WAUKESHA ¨¦ ¨¦§894 "o MITCHELL INTL MILWAUKEE ¨¦§43 ¨¦§94 RACINE Racine ¨¦§43 HIDTA County MI Major City MN Kenosha KENOSHA 250,000 + WI 94 MI ¨¦§ 100,000 - 249,999 50,000 - 99,999 IA "o International Airport IL ILLINOIS IN OH n| Major Seaport MO Area of Milwaukee HIDTA Interstate Figure 1. Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis Strategic Drug Threat Drug Trafficking Organizations, Developments Criminal Groups, and Gangs • The heroin abuser population in Milwaukee, Drug trafficking organizations are complex which had been limited to small networks of organizations with highly defined command- inner-city residents, has changed. Caucasian and-control structures that produce, transport, males and females from suburban areas and and/or distribute large quantities of one or more smaller outlying towns are coming to Milwau- illicit drugs. kee in increasing numbers to purchase heroin Criminal groups operating in the United States for personal use or to sell to friends and are numerous and range from small to moderately acquaintances. In addition, the mean age of sized, loosely knit groups that distribute one or heroin users has decreased; abusers now more drugs at the retail and midlevels. include senior high school age youth. Gangs are defined by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators’ Associations as groups or • Canada-based Vietnamese criminal groups have associations of three or more persons with a increased their transportation of high-potency common identifying sign, symbol, or name, the marijuana into Milwaukee, primarily through members of which individually or collectively Detroit, Michigan, increasing the availability of engage in criminal activity that creates an the drug in the region. atmosphere of fear and intimidation. • Traffickers use Milwaukee as a transit location major transportation center, making Milwaukee an for khat shipments that originate in England, easily accessible destination for illicit drugs as well France, Germany, and Italy, destined for as a transshipment point for drug shipments des- Minneapolis, Minnesota. tined for drug markets throughout Wisconsin and nearby states. • Sixty Latin Kings members were indicted in 2006, severely disrupting the criminal activities Ethnically and racially distinct neighborhoods of the street gang; however, other members are in the city of Milwaukee are home to Hispanic, poised to take over drug markets vacated by the African American, and Asian gangs that provide a indicted members. nexus between major drug distributors and street- level drug markets. Hispanics, consisting primarily • Violent crime in Milwaukee has increased over- of first- and second-generation Mexicans and all, and street gang-related violence, particularly including persons of Dominican, Colombian, and involving firearms, continues to increase. Puerto Rican descent, live almost exclusively south • Traffickers are increasingly investing illicit drug of Interstate 94/794 in Milwaukee County. Most proceeds in Milwaukee real estate ventures. African Americans live north of I-94/794, where they compose more than 80 percent of the popula- HIDTA Overview tion. Hispanic and African American gangs in these areas prey upon the residents of local neigh- The Milwaukee HIDTA region includes Mil- borhoods as they conduct their drug distribution waukee County as well as the counties of Kenosha, activities and recruit members. Racine, and Waukesha and occupies the southeast- ern corner of Wisconsin, bordering Illinois and Lake Michigan. Most of the region’s population is Drug Overview located in the county and city of Milwaukee, a fact Powder cocaine and crack cocaine pose the that is reflected in both the focus of HIDTA efforts greatest drug threats to the HIDTA region. The level and the scope of this report. Milwaukee is the of violence associated with the distribution of pow- twenty-second most populous city in the United der and crack cocaine and the number of overdose States. It lies 90 miles north of Chicago, Illinois, a deaths resulting from abuse of these drugs are the 2 This document may contain dated information. It has been made available to provide access to historical materials. ARCHIVED National Drug Intelligence Center major factors contributing to the magnitude of the groups and street gangs and by independent deal- threat to the region. Heroin constitutes the second- ers. Criminal groups and street gangs are the pri- greatest drug threat to the region, owing, in large mary distributors of cocaine and commercial-grade part, to a relatively high rate of overdose incidents. marijuana. Heroin, high-potency marijuana, khat, Southeast Asian heroin is the principal type avail- and other illicit drugs are more likely to be distrib- able and abused on the north side of the city, while uted by independent dealers or small, clandestine South American heroin typically is distributed on criminal groups. the south side. Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the region; however, users seldom Some Hispanic criminal groups on the south commit property or personal crimes. Marijuana side of Milwaukee receive large shipments of com- abuse among all segments of the population ensures mercial-grade marijuana and powder cocaine from a steady and high demand that translates into members of Mexican DTOs who operate in Ari- dependable profits for dealers. zona, Texas, and Mexico. African American crimi- nal groups on the north side of Milwaukee Other illicit drugs pose a serious threat to the maintain fewer direct connections to Mexican region, even though they are abused to a lesser DTOs and are more likely to receive drug ship- extent. Diverted pharmaceuticals, particularly pre- ments from other African American or Hispanic scription opiates, are threats, in part because users criminal groups in Chicago than from sources often later switch to more insidious drugs such as along the Southwest Border. Law enforcement heroin. Local officials report sporadic incidents of agencies have made several seizures of heroin and fentanyl availability and abuse in the area over the cocaine destined for Milwaukee from Colombian past year; however, the scope of the problem is and Dominican DTOs operating on the East Coast, unknown. For example, officials are unsure typically in New York City. Colombian and whether the emergence of fentanyl in the Milwau- Dominican DTOs supply drugs primarily to His- kee area is related to the distribution of fentanyl- panic gangs and independent dealers on the south laced heroin in Chicago over the past 2 years, a sit- side of Milwaukee. uation that has resulted in hundreds of overdoses and deaths. Abuse of MDMA (3,4-methylene- Numerous street gangs are involved in drug dioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) in trafficking in the Milwaukee HIDTA region. Most the region is stable at moderate levels. MDMA street gangs are composed of individuals of the continues to be smuggled into the area, primarily same race. They are often involved in significant from Canada through Detroit, but it is also trans- rivalry and incite violence against other street ported from California and Nevada. Law enforce- gangs and individuals involved in the drug trade. ment and drug treatment agencies report the abuse However, there is little rivalry and violence of methamphetamine as low and stable within the between street gangs from the north and south HIDTA region; production and abuse levels are sides of Milwaukee, because the gangs are sepa- low, as evidenced by seizure and abuse data. How- rated by clearly demarcated geographical bound- ever, should a demand shift occur in nearby areas, aries and generally distribute drugs to a proprietary methamphetamine could quickly be elevated to a customer base. serious threat to the Milwaukee HIDTA region. Latin Kings, Mexican Posse, and Spanish Cobras Drug Trafficking are the most prevalent street gangs on the south side Organizations of Milwaukee; they are composed primarily of His- panics. These gangs distribute powder cocaine and Large-scale drug trafficking organizations marijuana and, occasionally, crack cocaine. Hispanic