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National Drug Intelligence Center |
Ice methamphetamine availability and abuse will remain the most significant drug-related issues facing the Midwest HIDTA in the near term because of widespread methamphetamine abuse and the high level of violence associated with the drug's distribution and abuse. However, several HIDTA markets--notably Omaha--may experience a shortfall in methamphetamine supply. Moreover, it is likely that pervasive and sustained violence in Mexico will also continue to impact methamphetamine supply and pricing in the HIDTA region.
The Midwest HIDTA may face an increased trafficking threat from its shared border with Canada if chemical controls enacted by the government of Mexico cause a sustained decrease in Mexican methamphetamine production and a shortfall in the supply of methamphetamine in the HIDTA region. Law enforcement officials in some western drug markets have already noted intermittent methamphetamine shortages as a result of law enforcement pressure and chemical controls in the United States and Mexico. Law enforcement officials have also reported that methamphetamine production in Canada has risen in recent years and that they expect increasing supplies of Canadian methamphetamine to flow into areas of the United States, including some markets in the Midwest.
Local methamphetamine production will continue and most likely increase in some areas of the HIDTA. Unless states in the Midwest HIDTA region create centralized databases to track pseudoephedrine purchases, local methamphetamine producers will continue to purchase pseudoephedrine in quantities less than threshold amounts at several locations throughout the region until they acquire enough to manufacture a supply of methamphetamine. Further, methamphetamine producers will continue to search for alternative means of obtaining sufficient precursor chemicals. Law enforcement agencies in HIDTA areas that have experienced a resurgence of methamphetamine laboratories will have to balance budget expenditures between remediating methamphetamine laboratories and targeting DTOs.
Increased street gang activity in some HIDTA markets such as Jefferson City, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Wichita will lead to increased incidents of violent and property crimes. African American and Hispanic street gangs rely on drug revenue, including that generated by crack cocaine and methamphetamine sales, to support their activities and resort to violence in order to protect their operations. This may contribute to rising levels of violence in the Midwest HIDTA region if gangs increasingly compete for drug territory and market share.
CPD abuse and related rising heroin abuse will be significant concerns in the HIDTA region in 2009. Law enforcement reporting indicates that an increasing number of adolescents in several HIDTA states (particularly Kansas) abuse controlled prescription opioids. Such abuse may lead to an increase in heroin availability and abuse in the HIDTA region as users seeking a cheaper "high" create a demand for heroin of all types. This demand will most likely result in increased heroin-related emergency department admissions, since prescription opioid abusers who switch to heroin are at an increased risk of overdosing--they are accustomed to ingesting consistent quantities of opioids (based on prescription dosage). However, the purity level of heroin varies widely, and these abusers may unintentionally ingest a much larger dose of an opioid (heroin).
The availability and abuse of high-potency marijuana in the Midwest HIDTA region may rise as Asian traffickers increase their production in Manitoba, particularly the Winnipeg area, and as demand for the drug rises in the area. The Fargo/Grand Forks, Sioux City/Sioux Falls, and Omaha markets will be especially vulnerable to this increase, since I-29 connects with Canada's Manitoba Provincial Highway 75, which passes through Winnipeg. In addition, Asian traffickers from Canada may attempt to increase their market share and control by establishing indoor, high-potency cannabis cultivation operations within the HIDTA region, as they have done in Sioux City.
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