Outlook

The proximity of Milwaukee to Chicago, a major drug transportation center, will ensure a steady supply of cocaine, heroin, and commercial-grade marijuana to the HIDTA region. The distribution of powder and crack cocaine will remain the primary drug threat in the foreseeable future. Prescription opiate and heroin abuse will remain a significant, yet secondary, problem, partly because young adults will continue to experiment with and become addicted to those drugs.

Commercial-grade marijuana will remain the most widely abused drug in the HIDTA region, although a growing demand for and availability of high-potency marijuana may result in an increase in its abuse.

If a significant disruption were to occur in the cocaine supply to Milwaukee, or if a significant relocation of existing methamphetamine distributors or abusers to the region from adjacent areas were to take place, an increase in methamphetamine demand might precipitate methamphetamine distribution and abuse throughout the region. Moreover, because Hispanic gangs and criminal organizations have existing direct drug channels to Mexico and the Southwest Border, these groups would be poised to rapidly transport and distribute wholesale quantities of the drug.

Fentanyl-laced heroin may emerge as a threat to Milwaukee. Officials in Chicago and Detroit, major sources of supply for drugs available in Milwaukee, have reported hundreds of overdoses and deaths related to this combination of drugs over the past 2 years. Despite the overdoses and deaths, heroin and fentanyl combinations are sought by opiate abusers in Chicago and Detroit; this demand may spread to the Milwaukee area.

Laundering of drug proceeds through real estate investment will most likely increase in Milwaukee, particularly as the inner-city areas of Milwaukee experience a resurgence in property revitalization. These investments frequently evolve into complex mechanisms for fraud and will quite likely require additional law enforcement investigative assets.

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