Cocaine

The primary drug threats in Wisconsin are the availability and abuse of powdered cocaine transported into the state by Mexican DTOs and the subsequent conversion, distribution, and abuse of crack cocaine. Mexican DTOs transport large shipments of powdered cocaine from the Southwest Border intermixed with legitimate goods in tractor-trailers, and Mexican criminal groups are the primary wholesale distributors of powdered cocaine. Once the powdered cocaine is converted, African American and Hispanic street gangs control the retail distribution of crack cocaine throughout the state. Crack cocaine is the drug most often associated with violent crime in Wisconsin.

Abuse

Law enforcement authorities report that crack cocaine is the principal drug threat in central and eastern Wisconsin. A record number of deaths (60) were attributed to cocaine abuse in Wisconsin in 1997--an 86 percent increase from 1996 and a 130 percent increase from 1993. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) information also shows an increase in cocaine abuse, with admissions increasing from 431 in 1993 to 785 in 1998. The Milwaukee HIDTA reports a rise in cocaine-related offenses from 1993 to 1998. It reports cocaine sales arrests increased 8.6 percent and possession arrests rose 10.7 percent.

The rise in powdered and crack cocaine abuse has affected families drastically, especially in Milwaukee's inner city. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Milwaukee Field Office, most crack cocaine abuse still occurs in the inner city, predominantly in Milwaukee, and directly affects lower income and African American families. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District reports that approximately 8,000 to 10,000 cases of child abuse and neglect are cited each year in Milwaukee, almost all of which can be attributed to drug abuse, particularly cocaine. One Milwaukee inner-city hospital estimates that approximately one-third of its pregnant patients test positive for drugs and that of these patients, those most often testing positive for cocaine are African American. A survey at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, the major metropolitan hospital in Milwaukee, revealed that 1 in 6 women giving birth used drugs--usually cocaine--compared with a national average of 1 in 20.

Although once confined to urban areas, the abuse of powdered and crack cocaine is spreading to suburban and rural areas. Powdered and crack cocaine abuse is a growing problem in small to midsize cities such as Appleton, Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, and Racine and in rural areas such as Door, Clark, Menominee, Shawnee, and Taylor Counties. The Forest, Menominee, Kenosha, and Brown County Sheriff's Departments all indicate that crack cocaine is a major threat in their areas and that the threat is increasing. The Janesville Police Department states that the greatest drug threat in its area is crack cocaine, and the West Central Drug Task Force reports that the number of investigations and arrests related to both powdered and crack cocaine increased in 1999.

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Availability

Cocaine, both powdered and crack, continues to dominate the Milwaukee area, primarily because of the city's proximity to Chicago, although the drug is more readily available in smaller communities throughout Wisconsin than ever before. According to survey responses and phone interviews with law enforcement from Appleton, Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, and Racine as well as from Door, Clark, Menominee, Shawnee, and Taylor Counties, the availability of powdered and crack cocaine is increasing, leading to an increase in cocaine-related crime, violence, and abuse.

A Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney who was the lead prosecutor for a special drug court system stated that since the system's inception in 1990, most of the nearly 15,000 cases tried involved cocaine. In a comparison of Wisconsin Task Force drug charges from 1995 to 1999, powdered and crack cocaine investigations rose 1.4 percent and 68.8 percent, respectively. The Assistant District Attorney for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Drug Enforcement Group reported that cases involving crack cocaine outnumbered cases for all other drug types in 1998. The number of Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory drug cases for powdered cocaine was relatively stable from 1997 to 1999; however, the number of cases for crack rose over the same period, from 1,036 to 1,140. The number of cocaine samples submitted to the state crime laboratories for testing is one indicator of the supply of these drugs in the state.

Along with the increased numbers of cocaine-related seizures and arrests, a decrease in prices indicates that cocaine is more readily available in Wisconsin than in previous years. From 1996 to 1999, the price of powdered cocaine fell from $90 to $75 per gram and crack cocaine fell from $200 to $140 per gram. The Milwaukee HIDTA states that an influx in the number of independent traffickers operating in the Milwaukee area resulted in a rise in crack cocaine availability, thereby flooding the market and dropping ounce-quantity prices. Powdered cocaine typically is transported into the Milwaukee area in uncut multikilogram quantities. Most of the powdered cocaine is converted into crack cocaine, which is retailed in 1/8- to 1-ounce packets. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Milwaukee District Office states, however, that powdered cocaine remains readily available in kilogram quantities in the metropolitan area.

The purity levels for powdered and crack cocaine in Wisconsin have risen. In 1997, the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory in Milwaukee tested 809 crack cocaine exhibits for purity. Most (694) averaged 60 percent pure, but the purity of 115 of the exhibits exceeded 80 percent. The crime laboratory tested 358 powdered cocaine exhibits in 1997. Of these, 130 were at least 80 percent pure and 180 were at least 60 percent pure; the other 48 exhibits tested below 60 percent. In March 2000, the Milwaukee HIDTA stated that agents routinely seize cocaine at purity levels of 80 percent or more. Cocaine seized in Milwaukee exceeded the national average in purity in more than 80 percent of the exhibits tested, indicating that crack distributors--at least within the Milwaukee area--often are able to obtain high-quality cocaine.

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Violence

The violent criminal activity related to the distribution of crack cocaine, primarily by street gangs, is a significant problem throughout Wisconsin, especially in the Milwaukee area. In 1999, 31 percent of Wisconsin drug enforcement agencies reported that gangs were an escalating problem and that there was a link between gangs, crack, and violence. A Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney stated that numerous studies indicate that the primary reason for the increase in violent crime in the county is increased crack cocaine distribution. The distribution and abuse of powdered and crack cocaine are linked to most homicides, overdose deaths, violent crimes, child abuse and neglect cases, and drug arrests in the county. Total Wisconsin task force arrests for crack-related violent crime increased 14.5 percent from 1997 to 1998.

Gang migration from urban areas to smaller cities as well as to suburban and rural areas has spread the availability of crack cocaine and associated violent criminal activity throughout Wisconsin. Gangs move from Milwaukee to smaller communities where the price of crack and powdered cocaine is much higher to increase profits and to escape law enforcement scrutiny in urban areas. Consequently, drug-related crime and violence are affecting many of Wisconsin's smaller communities. For example, Green Bay officials report steady gang migration from St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Chicago, estimating that 40 percent of their crime is gang-related. Gangs commit approximately 10 percent of the crime in Appleton, where local officials report that crack cocaine sales and use have increased as a result of street gang activity, specifically by the Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords. Fitchburg officials report that violence associated with gang drug activity has increased and that gangs commit approximately 15 percent of the crime in the city, including home invasion robberies, aggravated batteries, shootings, and automobile theft. Kenosha officials state that gangs are responsible for most of their violent crime including shootings, stabbings, home invasion robberies, batteries, and carjackings. Gangs in Kenosha are becoming more covert and more sophisticated in their drug operations. Rival gangs form "Dope Posses," pooling assets and working together to increase their drug profits. Rival gangs may even work on the same corner selling drugs.

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Production

Street gangs convert powdered cocaine into crack cocaine primarily in Milwaukee for local distribution. The conversion process normally takes place in gang members' homes or stash houses in the areas where the crack is to be distributed to avoid the stiffer criminal penalties assessed for transporting wholesale quantities. The Milwaukee County Sheriff reports that African American and other independent gangs convert 80 percent of the powdered cocaine transported into the area into crack. The Central Area Drug Enforcement Group reports that African American dealers tied to Chicago-based gangs transport powdered cocaine to Wausau, and that approximately 75 percent is converted into crack cocaine for retail sales. Both the Brown County Sheriff and a Racine County Metro Drug Unit detective report that 50 percent of the powdered cocaine transported into their areas is converted into crack by African American gangs.

Transportation

Mexican DTOs are responsible for most of the transportation of powdered cocaine, according to the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance. The DEA Chicago Field Division, which includes the Milwaukee District Office, states that Mexican DTOs are the single largest suppliers of cocaine throughout its jurisdiction. The Wisconsin DNE states that many local cocaine distribution groups have connections to Mexican DTOs and use the DTOs to transport cocaine supplies from the Southwest Border. The Wisconsin DNE, the Milwaukee HIDTA, and DEA Milwaukee indicate that Mexican DTOs transport large quantities of powdered cocaine to Wisconsin directly from Mexico or through California, Florida, and Texas; the Milwaukee HIDTA adds Chicago to this list of source areas. Approximately 20 to 40 percent of the cocaine transported to Wisconsin is shipped directly from California; the rest is shipped through Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, and from cities in Texas.

The transportation of cocaine shipments originating at the Southwest Border is increasing. The organizations responsible for the increased flow of cocaine into the DEA Milwaukee District Office's area of responsibility are divided into three groups: Mexico-based DTOs, U.S.-based criminal groups with ties to Mexico-based DTOs, and street gangs. One Mexico-based DTO, the Vicente Carrillo-Fuentes organization based along the Juarez, Mexico-El Paso, Texas, border, is the primary supplier of cocaine to the Great Lakes Region. Primarily a transportation organization, the Carrillo-Fuentes organization directs an extensive air and land network, orchestrating large-scale smuggling of cocaine from South America to the United States via Mexico. Chicago-based Mexican organizations with ties to Mexico-based DTOs, such as the Herrera organization, are midlevel distributors. The Herrera organization transports large quantities of cocaine from the Southwest Border to Chicago, a regional source of supply. The Herrera organization typically contracts drivers of legitimate trucking companies to transport drugs hidden in legitimate shipments. Hispanic and African American street gangs based in Milwaukee are responsible for street-level sales. Gangs such as the Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, and Latin Kings dominate the market in Milwaukee and often have ties to Chicago-based gangs.

Transportation groups ship cocaine to and throughout Wisconsin using a variety of means, including commercial and private vehicles, rail and air transport, and couriers. Cocaine frequently is concealed in automobiles, minivans, recreational vehicles, and tractor-trailers, which are used predominantly for bulk shipments. Transportation groups extensively employ tractor-trailers using the U.S. interstate system to ship cocaine north from the Southwest Border. According to the DEA Chicago Field Division and the Wisconsin DNE, the concealment of drugs in legitimate cargo, especially produce shipments, is an increasing problem. Transportation groups believe that law enforcement seldom stops these shipments because the produce may spoil, rendering law enforcement agencies liable for lost revenue.

Transportation groups often use private vehicles outfitted with sophisticated false or hidden compartments to conceal drug shipments. A Racine County Metro Drug Unit detective reported two seizures of powdered cocaine (2 and 3 kilograms) from a private vehicle in September 2000. The transporters were shipping the drug to Racine from Chicago.

Suppliers in Chicago sometimes package street quantities of powdered cocaine in plastic sandwich bags for transport. The cocaine is transported by private vehicle from the Chicago area to Milwaukee and stored in local residences prior to retail sale. In 1999, during a traffic stop, the Wisconsin State Patrol discovered crack cocaine in a fast-food container in a truck and a kilogram of powdered cocaine in plastic sandwich bags concealed inside the tailgate. According to the Milwaukee HIDTA, kilogram quantities of powdered cocaine seized from Mexican DTOs in 1999 had been placed in rubber balloons and then wrapped tightly with clear duct tape.

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Distribution

As noted, Milwaukee is the focal point for wholesale cocaine distribution throughout Wisconsin because of its highway accessibility and ports offering easy access to the eastern part of the country as well as to Canada. Most law enforcement investigations outside the state that have a Wisconsin nexus involve Milwaukee, further suggesting that Milwaukee is a wholesale distribution point. Total drug-related arrests for 1999 totaled 2,400 for Milwaukee County, 9 percent more than for all other law enforcement agencies throughout the state--there were 2,200 drug-related arrests for all other agencies.

The Milwaukee DEA District Office, the Milwaukee HIDTA, the Wisconsin DNE, as well as law enforcement agencies responding to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey 2000 report that Mexican DTOs are the predominant wholesale distributors of powdered cocaine in Wisconsin. Mexican wholesale suppliers not only maintain ties throughout Wisconsin but are associated with large-scale, sophisticated operations based in Chicago, such as the Herrera organization, and others based along the Southwest Border. Several 1999 Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigations uncovered large-scale Mexican DTOs distributing multikilogram quantities of cocaine throughout Wisconsin.

Dominican criminal groups are making inroads into the Wisconsin cocaine market. The Milwaukee HIDTA and the FBI Milwaukee Field Office state that local distributors have established ties to Dominican suppliers outside the state. Dominican criminal groups transport cocaine into the area from the Southwest Border and Chicago. Dominican wholesalers and the Puerto Rican prison gang Ņeta have formed a partnership and, collectively, have become a major cocaine distribution network in Milwaukee. This network is sophisticated and poses a threat to the Milwaukee area because of its close ties to Colombian DTOs and to distributors operating from New York City and the Dominican Republic. Milwaukee law enforcement agencies report that the Dominican-Ņeta drug network in Milwaukee is modeled after the Washington Heights network in New York City. (Drug retail groups in New York City that have a surplus of labor will send workers to other cities to establish distribution networks and expand their market base. The parent groups in New York City manage the outlying networks, supplying them with drugs and labor.) A 1999 Southwest OCDETF investigation targeted a Dominican cocaine organization based in Houston, Texas. This organization had ties to transporters in Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin as well as international connections to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

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The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, one of the "Big Four" outlaw motorcycle gangs operating in the United States, deals mainly in cocaine. According to the Milwaukee HIDTA, Outlaws activity has increased in Wisconsin during the past 10 years and membership in the state has grown from one to seven chapters. The newest Outlaws chapter was located strategically in La Crosse to protect the Wisconsin border from encroachment by the Hells Angels. Through its Wisconsin chapters, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club has an extensive cocaine distribution network throughout the Milwaukee area. It maintains a large number of "associates" and "puppet clubs" that it uses to retail cocaine in the area. This network has been enhanced by the recent formation of a legitimate Wisconsin Motorcycle Club Federation, potentially giving Outlaws members a larger pool of motorcycle enthusiasts and clubs from which to recruit.
  

In 1997, a federal grand jury in Milwaukee indicted 17 members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club for operating an enterprise violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The defendants were charged with a pattern of racketeering activity that included murder, robbery, arson, narcotics trafficking, trafficking in stolen motor vehicles and vehicle parts, interstate transportation of stolen property, and counterfeiting. On October 16, 2000, 16 of the 17 members were convicted and received prison sentences ranging from 24 years to life.

The primary crack retail distributors in Wisconsin continue to be street gangs, such as the Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, and Latin Kings. Jamaican posses, loosely structured Jamaican criminal groups, also retail crack in Wisconsin. Some of the street gangs that distribute crack cocaine also distribute powdered cocaine. In 1999, 31 percent of area drug enforcement agencies reported that gangs were an escalating problem and that there was a link between gangs and crack retail distribution. Between 1997 and 1999, major drug violations by the Gangster Disciples and the Vice Lords resulted in federal indictments for crack distribution.

Gang-controlled retail crack distribution is concentrated in southeastern Wisconsin, predominantly in the Milwaukee area, but is spreading throughout the state. Most Wisconsin respondents to the NDIC National Gang Survey 2000 indicated that street gangs are the primary retail crack distribution groups in the state. The survey responses provided by these cities indicate the extent to which major Chicago-based street gangs exercise control over retail crack distribution throughout Wisconsin. Law enforcement officials in Appleton, Fitchburg, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Wausau reported that the Gangster Disciples distributes cocaine locally in their cities. Fitchburg and Kenosha law enforcement authorities reported that the Vice Lords sells crack cocaine in their cities. Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Madison, and Milwaukee County law enforcement officials reported the presence of the Latin Kings throughout their areas.

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Because of the variety of gangs involved in the drug trade, retail crack cocaine distribution patterns vary by city throughout Wisconsin. The Milwaukee HIDTA reports that African American gangs such as the Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords operate on the North Side of the city while Hispanic gangs such as the Latin Kings, Maniac Latin Disciples, and La Familia operate on the South Side. A La Crosse Police Department detective reported that the Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords are the primary crack cocaine retailers in the La Crosse area. They sell crack cocaine predominantly in the areas of Southwest and West Avenues, primarily in residential neighborhoods. The Dane County Narcotics Task Force reports that the Gangster Disciples and Black P-Stones are the primary crack cocaine retailers in Madison. The Gangster Disciples reportedly sells crack cocaine in low-income areas throughout the city such as in the Allied Drive, Lake Point Drive, Cyprus and Magnolia, and Fisher Baird neighborhoods. The P-Stones gang sells crack cocaine primarily in suburban areas and is more sophisticated than most of the gangs operating in Dane County. The P-Stones primarily uses cellular telephones to support its drug business.

Law enforcement authorities report that independent African American dealers are the primary crack cocaine retailers in Appleton, Oshkosh, Racine, and Wausau. These dealers sell crack cocaine in primarily low-income housing areas throughout those cities. In Wausau, dealers have connections to Chicago-based gangs and reportedly sell most of their crack cocaine in a 2-mile-square area in the downtown district. Other crack retail areas are located in low-income rental areas on the north and south sides of the city.

Dominican wholesale distributors operating in Milwaukee use Hispanic gangs to expand further into the retail cocaine market. The Dominican-Ņeta drug network sells to several gangs on the South Side of Milwaukee including the Latin Kings, La Familia, Spanish Cobras, Maniac Latin Disciples, and Eastside Mafioso. La Familia members distribute cocaine in Milwaukee. La Familia is considered a major threat because of the large quantities of drugs that its members distribute in Milwaukee and because of its involvement in violent crime. Members of the Spanish Cobras are predominantly Puerto Rican and were originally members of the Maniac Latin Disciples. They are involved in the sale of crack cocaine as well as batteries, assaults, thefts, weapons violations, robberies, and burglaries. The Maniac Latin Disciples is a major Puerto Rican street gang with 60 to 80 members in Milwaukee and the surrounding suburbs. It is considered a major threat because of its connection to the Chicago Maniac Latin Disciples, the large quantities of crack it sells in Milwaukee, its involvement in violent crime, and its use of firearms in drug trafficking. The Eastside Mafioso (East Side Gangsters) is a violent gang that also has been known to obtain cocaine from Tennessee and Texas.

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