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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
Lake County HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
April 2010
Cocaine trafficking is a significant drug threat to the Lake County HIDTA region. Law enforcement officers report that wholesale-level cocaine availability was lower in Lake County in 2009 than in 2008. However, availability of the drug was sufficient to support local demand. Traffickers also began to "re-rock" kilogram quantities of cocaine, another indication of lower cocaine availability. Re-rocking is the process of diluting kilograms of powder cocaine and re-forming the drug into kilogram bricks with a hydraulic press to make it appear authentic and uncut. Cocaine prices in Lake County remained stable at $28,000 to $31, 000 per kilogram at the wholesale level and $80 to $100 per gram at the retail level in 2009.
South American (SA) heroin is readily available and is being abused by a growing number of young Caucasians from suburban areas in the Lake County HIDTA region. Some of these individuals switched to heroin after initially abusing prescription opioid pain relievers, while others abuse both heroin and prescription pain relievers. To support their own addictions, these Caucasian abusers often accept heroin orders from their peers, charging a fee or commission to do so. They travel from suburban areas to urban areas of the region, as well as to Chicago and southern Chicago suburbs, to purchase the drug. In fact, many of these abusers have become recognized customers in Chicago, and when they are in the city buying heroin, local distributors provide them protection from other predatory criminals.
Marijuana is widely available and abused in the Lake County HIDTA region. Most of the marijuana available in the region is commercial-grade Mexican marijuana. Canadian high-potency marijuana and marijuana produced locally at a limited number of indoor and outdoor sites are also available.
Methamphetamine demand in the region is typically low. Law enforcement officials report low levels of methamphetamine production in rural areas of southern Lake County.
The availability and abuse of controlled prescription drugs (CPDs) and other dangerous drugs vary throughout the region and pose lower threats than most other illicit drugs. CPDs such as alprazolam (Xanax), buprenorphine, fentanyl (Duragesic, Actiq), hydrocodone combinations (Vicodin), and oxycodone (OxyContin) are increasingly available and abused throughout the region. Abuse of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), particularly among African Americans, is increasing in some urban areas of the region.
UNCLASSIFIED
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