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National Drug Intelligence Center |
Mexican DTOs dominate wholesale cocaine and marijuana distribution in the Lake County HIDTA region. Mexican DTOs supply street gang members and independent dealers in Chicago and Lake County. Wholesale quantities of cocaine and marijuana are generally stored in and distributed from the region; wholesale quantities of heroin and methamphetamine are generally not available in Lake County. Heroin abusers and distributors typically travel to Chicago to obtain smaller quantities of the drug. However, law enforcement officials report that the availability of heroin in Lake County is increasing. Wholesale quantities of illicit drugs entering Lake County generally are offloaded quickly and distributed to midlevel dealers and street gang members. Law enforcement officials report that wholesale quantities of cocaine and marijuana are often transported by Mexican DTOs in tractor-trailers into the HIDTA region; these shipments typically are delivered to warehouses or remote sites where they are unloaded and quickly distributed to multiple drug traffickers.
Street gang members and independent dealers are the primary retail drug distributors in the Lake County HIDTA region. Open-air drug distribution markets typically are located in the metropolitan areas of Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago. In response to law enforcement initiatives targeting open-air drug markets, dealers frequently change the locations at which they conduct illicit drug transactions. Additionally, retail-level dealers conduct countersurveillance on law enforcement and take precautions to avoid revealing their illegal distribution activities to law enforcement. Street gang members and independent dealers often use multiple cell phones, typically prepaid and push-to-talk phones, to conduct drug transactions.
High levels of violent and property crime in the Lake County HIDTA region are associated with drug distribution and abuse, particularly in metropolitan areas. The criminal activities of street gangs in the HIDTA region typically extend beyond their drug distribution operations and include violent crimes and property crimes. The relocation to the HIDTA region of some Chicago gang members as a result of the razing of Chicago public housing developments has contributed to the high level of gang- and drug-related crime in the area. Gary is one of the most violent cities in the nation and has one of the highest per capita homicide rates in the United States.
Violent street gangs such as Gangster Disciples, Imperial Gangsters, Vice Lords, and Latin Kings are the principal retail drug distributors in Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago; members routinely engage in violent acts in furtherance of their drug distribution operations. Street gang members commit homicide, kidnapping, robbery, home invasions, and assaults in the HIDTA region. Drug-related violence in the area often results from disputes between street gang members vying for control of drug distribution territories or drug and money "rip-offs" of dealers or buyers. Nonetheless, law enforcement officials in the region report that members of different--and sometimes rival--gangs engage in joint drug distribution operations. These gang members, or "renegades," more frequently set aside gang affiliation for the expectation of high profits from cooperative drug operations.
Gang members in Lake County and many other jurisdictions rely upon firearms to establish and maintain control of drug markets and to protect their drug supplies and proceeds from rival gang members. Semiautomatic handguns are the weapons most often used by gang members; however, law enforcement officials in the Lake County HIDTA region report increases in seizures of assault-type rifles. In 2008 the HIDTA's Firearms Interdiction Regional Enforcement (FIRE) initiative investigated multiple firearms trafficking operations; most were drug- or gang-related. According to law enforcement officials, the number of firearms seized through the FIRE initiative was higher in 2008 (151 firearms) than the number seized in 2007 (70 firearms).
Street gang members in Lake County often obtain firearms in Indiana, where gun control laws are much less stringent than those in surrounding states. For example, Indiana law does not require a state permit to purchase or possess firearms and does not limit the number of firearms that an individual can purchase. Additionally, street gang members from Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin sometimes recruit Indiana residents to make straw purchases of firearms from gun stores and gun shows in the state. Street gang members also compel or entice their associates to establish Indiana residency for the purpose of making straw purchases of firearms on their behalf. The firearms purchased in Indiana are often supplied to gang members and associates in Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee, contributing to violent crime in those cities. Firearms obtained in Indiana can be sold at a premium because it is more difficult to make these purchases in neighboring states. For example, guns obtained through straw purchases in Indiana typically are sold in Illinois for three times the retail price.
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