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National Drug Intelligence
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African American DTOs and criminal groups, the predominant drug traffickers in the Michigan HIDTA region, distribute powder cocaine, heroin, and marijuana at the wholesale level. These traffickers transport powder cocaine and marijuana directly from locations along the U.S.-Mexico border, where they have connections to Mexican sources of supply; they also purchase wholesale quantities of these drugs from Mexican traffickers in the HIDTA region. Additionally, African American traffickers are increasingly involved in MDMA smuggling into the region from Canada. In order to maintain control of drug markets in the region, African American traffickers often engage in violence including assault and homicide.
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Drug trafficking organizations are complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantities of one or more illicit drugs. Criminal groups operating in the United States are numerous and range from small to moderately sized, loosely knit groups that distribute one or more drugs at the retail level and midlevel. Gangs
are defined by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Associations as
groups or associations of three or more persons with a common identifying sign,
symbol, or name, the members of which individually or collectively engage in
criminal activity that creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. |
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In February 2007 the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan announced that a leader of a Detroit-based African American DTO that had operated in the city for more than 15 years was sentenced to a 50-year term of imprisonment. The organization, with ties to Mexican sources of supply, is estimated to have distributed 600 kilograms of cocaine and 5,400 kilograms of marijuana and laundered approximately $5 million annually. The DTO transported the illicit drugs using hidden compartments in commercial trucks and personal vehicles and used two-way direct-connect communication to coordinate drug transactions. In addition to drug distribution, this DTO engaged in various other criminal activities, including tax violations, public corruption, weapons violations, violence, and murder. The leader used profits from illicit drug sales to operate three car washes and a real estate business. Investigations of this DTO resulted in 15 indictments and the seizure of 1,200 pounds of marijuana and approximately $2 million in cash and other assets, including a house, 11 automobiles, and two car-detailing businesses.
Source: U.S. Attorney Eastern District of Michigan. |
A number of other trafficking groups also distribute wholesale quantities of drugs in the Michigan HIDTA region. Mexican DTOs, many of which have direct ties to major Colombian drug cartels and other sources of supply along the Southwest Border, distribute wholesale quantities of powder cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Asian DTOs are the principal suppliers of Canadian high-potency marijuana and MDMA to the region, often using Indo-Canadian truck drivers to transport the drugs across the border. Albanian traffickers have emerged as transporters and wholesale distributors of Canadian high-potency marijuana and MDMA in the region. Caucasian and Middle Eastern traffickers in the region distribute wholesale quantities of powder cocaine and marijuana. West African criminal groups, particularly Nigerian and Ghanaian, transport and distribute SWA heroin and, to a lesser extent, SEA heroin in the region.
Various street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) distribute illicit drugs in the Michigan HIDTA region, primarily at the retail level. Nationally affiliated Gangster Disciples (GDs), Latin Kings, Sureņos (Sur-13), and Latin Counts are the dominant gangs in the region; they regularly distribute retail-level quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in drug markets throughout the region. Nationally affiliated OMGs such as Hells Angels and Outlaws and the locally affiliated Highwaymen distribute cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine in some areas of the region. According to the Detroit Police Department, between 50 and 75 gangs are active in Detroit. Approximately 70 gangs operate in Kent County (the Grand Rapids area), many of which originated in Chicago and southern California.
The criminal activities of street gangs and OMGs in the HIDTA region typically extend beyond their drug distribution operations. Street gangs commit criminal acts such as assault, drive-by shootings, homicide, money laundering, property crime, robbery, and weapons trafficking. Many turf-oriented street gangs participate in ongoing feuds over distribution territories in neighborhood communities where they reside and conduct their drug operations. Street gang members often use the voice and text messaging capabilities of cell phones to conduct drug transactions and prearrange meetings with customers. Some gang members prefer cell phones with two-way direct-connect communication, believing that they are less vulnerable to law enforcement interception. Street gang members increasingly communicate through Blackberries and the Internet, using text messaging and photos to boast about gang membership or related activities and to advertise events and house parties. Some street gangs create web sites for rap music record labels, a number of which are fictitious and created to mask gang activities. Street gang recruitment of middle school and high school students is increasing. Young recruits are used to perform various gang-related criminal activities, including drug sales, shootings, carjackings, and robberies. The Detroit Thug Lords, for example, paid gang members, some of whom were minors, as much as $5,000 per month to distribute various drugs, including powder cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana. (See text box in the Distribution section.) OMGs conduct criminal activities such as assault, theft, fraud, homicide, prostitution operations, and weapons trafficking.
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