U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center 

Title:

Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2010

Publication Date: April 2010

Document ID: 2010-R0813-008

Archived on: September 1, 2011. This document may contain dated information. It remains available to provide access to historical materials.

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 coordinated with the HIDTA, is limited in scope to HIDTA jurisdictional boundaries, and draws upon a wide variety of sources within those boundaries.

Your questions, comments, and suggestions for future subjects are welcome at any time. Addresses are provided at the end of the page.

Contents

List of Figures

Figure 1. Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
Figure 2. Greatest Drug Threat to the Chicago HIDTA Region, as Reported By Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Agencies by Number of Respondents
Figure 3. Treatment Provider Services in the Chicago HIDTA Region by Substance, SFY2005-2009

List of Tables

Table 1. Metropolitan Areas Most Often Identified as Origination and Destination Points for Seized Drug Shipments, 2008-2009
Table 2. Drug Use Among Adult Male Arrestees, Urinalysis Results, 2008

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

The Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) is one of the nation's largest drug markets. It is a national-level distribution center for multiton quantities of cocaine and marijuana and for lesser quantities of heroin and methamphetamine supplied to the Midwest and the eastern United States. Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) represent the single greatest drug trafficking threat and dominate the wholesale distribution of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in the region. Some of the cocaine, heroin, and marijuana and most of the ice methamphetamine transported to the Chicago area are destined for other drug markets, primarily in the Midwest. Street gangs are the principal retail-level distributors in the region. They pose a major public safety concern to law enforcement because they engage in violent criminal activities to protect their drug supplies, distribution territories, and illicit drug proceeds. According to the Chicago Police Department, nearly 60 percent of the murders in that city in 2009 were gang-involved.a

The distribution and abuse of cocaine, followed by heroin and marijuana, are the primary drug threats in the Chicago HIDTA region. MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) and controlled prescription drugs are abused but pose much lesser threats. Hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds are generated each year, and bulk cash smuggling is the primary method used by traffickers to move these proceeds from Chicago to locations along the Southwest Border and into Mexico.

The following are significant strategic drug threat developments in the Chicago HIDTA region:

• Street gang drug distribution and related violence are expanding from urban areas to surrounding suburban communities as a result of the breakdown of traditional hierarchical gang structures, the razing of some large inner-city public housing projects, and the expectation of high profits.
   
• Wholesale cocaine availability in Chicago stabilized somewhat in 2009. The chronic cocaine shortages experienced in the HIDTA region during 2007 and 2008 have abated to some extent, but availability is still lower than in 2006. Traffickers are cutting cocaine to stretch supplies and increase profits, as indicated by higher prices and lower purity levels. Cocaine availability is expected to continue to fluctuate in the coming year but should remain at levels sufficient to support market demand.
   
• Heroin availability and abuse are high in the Chicago HIDTA region. In 2009, heroin seizures increased in the region, and law enforcement reported that some street gangs in Chicago were distributing several thousand $10 bags of heroin each day. It is expected that the high availability of heroin coupled with the growing number of heroin abusers from suburban areas who travel to the region to purchase the drug will result in a rising number of abusers and heroin-related overdoses in Chicago and surrounding communities.
   
• The availability and abuse of high-potency marijuana are high and expected to increase in the near term. Law enforcement officials report increased importation of high-potency marijuana from Canada and the West Coast to the HIDTA region, as well as increased local production.
   
• MDMA availability is rising in the Chicago HIDTA region, particularly in African American and Hispanic communities, where street gangs have increased their distribution of the drug. Law enforcement officials report increased seizures of BZP (N-benzylpiperazine, a controlled prescription stimulant), which is often sold as MDMA or promoted as an alternative to MDMA.

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Addresses

Web Addresses

ADNET:  http://ndicosa.adnet.sgov.gov
DOJ:  http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/
LEO:  https://www.leo.gov/http/leowcs.leopriv.gov/lesig/archive/ndic/index.htm
RISS:  ndic.riss.net

Footnote

a. The Chicago Police Department defines a gang-involved murder as either a murder involving a victim or offender with known gang association or a murder that was gang-related.

UNCLASSIFIED

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