[print friendly version]

Drug Situation: Chicago is the major transportation hub and distribution center for illegal drugs throughout the Midwest due to its geographic location and multi-faceted transportation infrastructure. Commercial trucks, passenger vehicles, package delivery services, air packages or couriers, and railways are the most common means traffickers use to transport drugs into Chicago. The majority of the investigations conducted by the Chicago Division target one of the following drug trafficking groups: Mexico-based poly-drug organizations, Colombian cocaine and heroin trafficking organizations, and Nigerian/West African groups trafficking in Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin. Chicago-based street gangs such as the Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, and Latin Kings control the distribution and retail sale of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Most law enforcement agencies in Illinois cite the violent crime associated with gang-related drug trafficking as the most serious criminal threat to the state. Violent crime associated with street gangs, while declining in some major urban areas, is increasing in suburban and rural areas as these gangs expand their drug markets.

Cocaine: Mexico-based drug trafficking organizations transport metric-ton quantities of cocaine from the southwest border into Illinois—primarily to Chicago—on a regular basis. Brokers arrange the transportation at the southwest border and then travel to the Chicago area to oversee the delivery to local cells. The Chicago area further serves as a distribution hub, supplying other cities throughout the Midwest and as far east as New York City.

Heroin: Chicago is unique among American cities in that heroin from all four source areas-South America, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and to a lesser extent Mexico-is available on a consistent basis from year to year. Until recently, virtually all of the white heroin available in the Chicago area was smuggled in by Nigerian/West African criminal groups. But investigative intelligence and Domestic Monitor Program results indicate that South American heroin availability has become more prominent over the past few years. Increased competition amongst these groups has led directly to lower prices and widespread availability of the drug, albeit at purity levels lower than typically observed in East Coast markets. At the retail level, heroin is distributed at numerous open-air drug markets, predominantly on the west side of the city, that are controlled by street gangs, such as the Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, and Mickey Cobras. Chicago, along with several other cities in the eastern half of the United States, experienced a spike in fentanyl-relate overdoses and deaths during April 2006. Such incidents continued throughout the summer of 2006 and, in all, there were more than 300 fentanyl-related deaths in Cook County from April 2005 through the end of 2006, according to the Cook County Medical Examiners Office.

Methamphetamine: Illinois is faced with a two-pronged methamphetamine problem. First, large quantities of methamphetamine produced by Mexico-based Drug Trafficking Organizations are transported to the state. Mexican drug trafficking organizations transport methamphetamine into Illinois mostly from California and Mexico. They use the same distribution channels used for other drugs. Outlaw motorcycle gangs and Hispanic street gangs control the retail distribution of methamphetamine. There is increasing evidence that methamphetamine is being distributed in the Chicago area, most likely the result of rising availability of the drug as more Mexico-produced methamphetamine destined for markets in other areas transits Chicago. Second, small-scale methamphetamine laboratories have proliferated greatly in many areas of the state. Methamphetamine is the principal drug of concern in the rural areas of central and southern Illinois.

Club Drugs: Because of its status as an international transportation and trade center, Chicago remains vulnerable as a distribution point for organizations involved in trafficking club drugs, such as MDMA (ecstasy), GHB, Ketamine, and PCP. As in other divisions across the nation, the DEA CFD is aggressively targeting dangerous drug traffickers internationally and domestically. Regionally, Chicago serves as a secondary source area for club drugs distributed throughout the Midwest.

Money Laundering: Chicago's status as a major financial center presents opportunities for laundering the vast sums of money that are generated from the trafficking of drugs. Traditionally, money laundering in Chicago was, and is still, accomplished by investing profits from illegal drug sales into legal businesses such as nightclubs and grocery stores. Mexican drug traffickers typically transport the cash in bulk via commercial vehicles or tractor-trailers to the southwest border and then into Mexico. Colombian traffickers, by contrast, use separate operational cells to launder money through more sophisticated mechanisms. The cells utilize foreign banks associated with countries with lax banking laws and greater secrecy principles, money exchange/wire businesses, ATM deposits and withdrawals or they may physically smuggle currency out of the United States. Colombian traffickers also use the Black Market Peso Exchange, which is a scheme to launder drug proceeds using Colombian Pesos.

Marijuana: Marijuana is the most widely available and used illicit drug in Illinois. Mexico-based poly-drug trafficking organizations transport bulk marijuana shipments concealed with legitimate goods in tractor-trailers into the Chicago area from the southwest border. It is common for smaller shipments of marijuana to be smuggled across the southwest border and later consolidated into larger shipments destined for Chicago. The primary wholesalers of marijuana in Chicago are the same Mexico-based organizations who supply most of the cocaine, methamphetamine, and Mexican heroin in the Chicago area. Mexican trafficking cells operating in the Chicago area are often composed of extended family members of associates or organization members in Mexico. In addition, local marijuana production, in both outdoor and indoor cultivation sites, reportedly is increasing in many areas.

Other Drugs: The diversion of legitimate pharmaceuticals is a significant problem in Illinois. The problem of purchasing pharmaceuticals over the Internet has grown dramatically. Ritalin®, a controversial drug prescribed for attention deficit disorder in children, may be gaining popularity as a recreational drug for teenagers. The most commonly diverted pharmaceutical drugs continue to be those containing hydrocordone, alprazolam, and phentermine. There has also been an increase in the abuse of diazepam (valium®), especially 10 mg strength tablets. There has been a notable rise in the number of reported incidents of diversion of pseudoephedrine and, as a result, the number of investigations in this area is on the rise. There has been an increase in diversion of Canadian manufactured pseudoephedrine products being smuggled into the US, as opposed to domestically manufactured products being diverted from the regulated distribution chain. OxyContin® remains a highly abused substance in the state. With increased media attention on OxyContin® there has been a shift to an increased use and abuse of methadone.

Pharmaceutical Diversion: Current investigations indicate that diversion of hydrocodone products such as Vicodin®, oxycodone products such as OxyContin®, and pseudoephedrine continues to be a problem in Illinois. Primary methods of diversion being reported are illegal sale and distribution by health care professionals and workers, “doctor shopping” (going to a number of doctors to obtain prescriptions for a controlled pharmaceutical). Benzodiazepines (such as alprazolam), methylphenidate, and methadone were also identified as being among the most commonly abused and diverted pharmaceuticals in Illinois.

DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams: This cooperative program with state and local law enforcement counterparts was conceived in 1995 in response to the overwhelming problem of drug-related violent crime in towns and cities across the nation. Since the inception of the MET Program, 473 deployments have been completed nationwide, resulting in 19,643 arrests. There have been 16 MET deployments in the State of Illinois since the inception of the program: Kankakee, North Chicago, Aurora, Chicago Heights, Bloomington, Chicago, Round Lake, Peoria, East St. Louis, Alton (2), Madison, Washington Park, Waukegan, Riverdale, LaGrange, and Rockford.

DEA Regional Enforcement Teams: This program was designed to augment existing DEA division resources by targeting drug organizations operating in the United States where there is a lack of sufficient local drug law enforcement. This program was conceived in 1999 in response to the threat posed by drug trafficking organizations that have established networks of cells to conduct drug trafficking operations in smaller, non-traditional trafficking locations in the United States. As of January 31, 2005, there have been 27 deployments nationwide, and one deployment in the U.S. Virgin Islands, resulting in 671 arrests. There have been no RET deployments in the State of Illinois.

Special Topics: There are currently 14 drug courts in existence in Illinois. One additional court is planned for the end of this year if funding remains available. The state drug courts are administered by the State's Attorneys Office. The Illinois General Assembly has recently established the Drug Court system in state statute.

More information about the Chicago Division Office.

Sources

Factsheet last updated: 6/2007