National Drug Intelligence Center   Milwaukee High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2008   May 2008

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

• Crack cocaine distribution by street gang members poses the most significant drug threat to the Milwaukee HIDTA region; crack has been linked to more drug-related violent crime in the region than any other illicit drug.
   
• Cocaine availability in Milwaukee was lower in 2007 than in 2006, most likely as a result of decreasing supplies in Chicago, the principal source of cocaine to the region. Additionally, targeted enforcement actions against Chicago drug distributors who travel to the region quite likely contributed to decreased cocaine availability.
   
• Heroin abuse has increased in the Milwaukee HIDTA region because of the decreased cost of heroin, particularly among young Caucasians in suburban areas. Prescription opiate abuse also increased among young Caucasians in 2007. These abusers later switch to heroin because of its lower cost and increased availability.
   
• Canada-based Asian traffickers increased the availability of Canadian MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) in the HIDTA region in 2007. Consequently, the abuse of MDMA by college age individuals has risen.
   
• Hispanic and African American street gangs in Milwaukee are increasingly involving female and juvenile associates in their drug trafficking activities.

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HIDTA Overview

The Milwaukee HIDTA region encompasses Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha Counties in the southeastern corner of Wisconsin (see Figure 1). An estimated 1.6 million people reside in the region; most live in the city and county of Milwaukee. Other significant population centers include Kenosha, Racine, Waukesha, and West Allis.

The Milwaukee HIDTA region receives most of its illicit drug supply from Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and criminal groups based in Chicago, Illinois, which lies approximately 90 miles south of Milwaukee. Mexican traffickers typically transport wholesale quantities of illicit drugs from locations along the Southwest Border to stash houses in the Chicago area, from which they supply distributors in the Milwaukee HIDTA region. Additionally, various other traffickers transport illicit drugs to the Milwaukee HIDTA region from Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Canada.

The city of Milwaukee is divided by Interstate 94/794, which separates the north and south sides of the city into ethnically and racially distinct communities. Most Hispanics in the region, including persons of Mexican, Dominican, Colombian, and Puerto Rican descent, live south of Interstate 94/794 in Milwaukee County. Hispanic criminal groups and street gangs operate primarily on the south side of Milwaukee, where they mask their operations within Hispanic communities and dominate the distribution of powder cocaine and marijuana. African Americans compose more than 80 percent of the population of Milwaukee residing north of Interstate 94/794. Most African American criminal groups and street gangs operate on the north side of the city, concealing their operations within African American communities; they are the primary distributors of crack cocaine and marijuana in this area of the region. Asian street gangs and Caucasian independent dealers also distribute illicit drugs throughout the region.

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Drug Threat Overview

Cocaine and heroin pose the most significant drug threats to the Milwaukee HIDTA region. Eleven of the 16 state and local law enforcement agencies in the Milwaukee HIDTA region that responded to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 2007 indicated that cocaine posed the greatest threat to their area. Law enforcement reporting indicates that cocaine availability in Milwaukee was lower in 2007 than in 2006, most likely an effect of reported cocaine shortages in Chicago during the same period. Traditionally, cocaine availability in Milwaukee decreases for a short time each December, when many members of Mexican trafficking groups return to Mexico to visit family for the holiday season; however, cocaine shortages persisted in Milwaukee throughout 2007. Despite lower availability and slightly higher retail prices, cocaine traffickers were still able to purchase sufficient quantities of the drug for distribution in the region. Heroin, primarily South American (SA) and, to a much lesser extent, Southeast Asian (SEA) and Southwest Asian (SWA), also poses a serious threat to the region; it is increasingly being abused and is often associated with overdose deaths. Marijuana is the most commonly available and widely abused illicit drug in the region. Most marijuana available in the region is commercial-grade Mexican marijuana; however, the availability of high-potency marijuana is rising because of increased demand. Locally grown marijuana is also available.

A variety of other illicit drugs also pose substantial threats to the region. Diverted pharmaceutical drugs, particularly prescription opiates, are commonly abused in the region. Many abusers of prescription opiates eventually switch to heroin use because of the relatively high cost of pharmaceutical drugs as compared with heroin. MDMA is commonly transported into the area from California and Canada; abuse and availability of the drug are trending upward. Methamphetamine availability and abuse in the region are limited.

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