mexican mafia & midwest crime trends
DESCRIPTION
What role is the Mexican Mafia playing in the increased crime in the Midwest?TRANSCRIPT
EMERGING CRIME TRENDS
IN THE MIDWEST
NEWSChicago Gang Sets Up Shop In Missouri Town
Disciples Franchise Their Drugs, ViolenceDecember 17, 1995
By Maurice Possley, Tribune Staff Writer.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — “When police here arrested 18-year-old Marvin Herron on Aug.
25, 1993, and confiscated a .380-caliber handgun, they were taken aback by the cocksure arrogance of the Harvey, Ill.,
teenager.”
"Marvin told me that he was from a suburb of Chicago and he had come to Springfield
and had been selling crack cocaine,“
"He admitted that he was a member of the Gangster Disciples street gang, that the gun
he was carrying was to protect his money and his investment."
"They see there's nothing happening, see dollar signs, set up a prototype, and they're
up and running," Knox said. "It's sort of like a McDonald's operation, a franchise.“
Professor George Knox, director of the National Gang Research Center at Chicago
State University
Drug MarketsOverview
“The Midwest HIDTA region contains several primary drug
market areas, including the Kansas City, Omaha, and St.
Louis…”
Drug MarketsOverview
“…secondary markets, including Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Fargo/Grand Forks, Sioux
City/Sioux Falls, Springfield, and Wichita.”
Drug Retail Distributor Market
MethHispanic street gangs, Caucasian
local independent dealersAll markets
Crack
cocaine
African American street gangs, independent dealers
All markets
MarijuanaHispanic street gangs, African
American street gangs, Caucasian local independent dealers
All markets
Heroin
African American street gangs, local independent dealers,
Caucasian local independent dealers
Kansas City, St. Louis,
Springfield
PCPAfrican American street gang members, local independent
dealers
Kansas City, Omaha, St. Louis,
Wichita
Table 1. Drugs in the Midwest HIDTA, by Retail Distributor and
Market, 2009Source: Drug Enforcement Administration; Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task
Force
Springfield, MO“Springfield, with a population
of more than 150,000, is the county seat of Greene County
and is situated along I-44, which connects Springfield to St. Louis and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.”
Figure 2 Midwest HIDTA
Region Transportation Infrastructure
Springfield, MO“Mexican DTOs and criminal
groups are the principal transporters and wholesale
distributors of most illicit drugs in Springfield.”
Springfield, MO“Mexican traffickers transport
wholesale quantities of ice methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana from Phoenix;
Bakersfield, California; and Texas to Springfield for distribution.”
Springfield, MO“Since 2005…Gangster Disciples
members operating in this market has increased, and law
enforcement officials report that these criminals now distribute
Mexican black tar heroin in addition to crack cocaine.”
Sureño Gangs “…most active criminally…most prolific in
gang killings... The African-American gangs are normally the victims of Sureño in hate-crime…
Sureños…invading Northern California cities by the hundreds, not vice versa.”
Mexican Mafia: The Most Dangerous GangSurenos you encounter are taking their orders from
a higher authority.April 12, 2010 by Richard Valdemar
“No matter which big bad bloody band of barrio bad boys you might be dealing with (in
southern California),…all pay taxes to and obey the codes of conduct dictated by the
Mexican Mafia.”
Mexican Mafia: The Most Dangerous GangSurenos you encounter are taking their orders from a higher
authority.April 12, 2010 by Richard Valdemar
NGIC “…is an agency of the U.S. Government Justice Department… NGIC is a multi-agency effort that integrates the gang intelligence
assets of federal, state, and”Info. Source: Wikipedia
National Gang Intelligence
Center
”…local law enforcement entities to serve as a centralized intelligence resource for gang
information and analytical support.”Info. Source: Wikipedia
National Gang Intelligence
Center
NATIONAL GANG INTELLIGENCE CENTER2011
NATIONAL GANG THREAT ASSESSMENTEMERGING TRENDS
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page 7:“Gangs are responsible for an average of 48% of violent crime in most jurisdictions…up to
90% in several others…”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page 7:“Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (MDTO)…resulted in gang expansion and
violence in a number of jurisdictions.”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page 8:“Gangs are acquiring high-powered, military-style weapons and equipment which poses a
significant threat…”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page 9:“…data indicates…since 2009, gang
membership increased most significantly… Arizona, California, and Illinois-boast the
highest number of gang members.”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page 30:“Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations
(MDTO) are among the most prominent…because… of the production of most drugs
consumed in the U.S.”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page 30:“…street gangs are expanding their influence over drug distribution in rural and suburban
areas and acquire drugs directly from MDTOs in Mexico or along the Southwest border”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page48:“THE SOUTHWEST BORDER… US-based gangs, MDTOs and other criminal enterprises in…U.S.
and Mexico…incur enormous profit…”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
Page48:“in…smuggling drugs, arms, and illegal
immigrants; and serving as enforcers for MDTO interest on the U.S. side… ”
National Gang Intelligence
Center
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
THE MIDWESTERNERBLOGGING THE GLOBAL MIDWESTWednesday, September 18, 2013
The Mexican Connection: Drugs in the Midwest
“One of the best descriptions of this recently is an article in the October issue of
Bloomberg Markets Magazine that focuses on the billionaire Mexican drug lord Joaquin
Guzman, and his success in taking over the Chicago market for heroin, cocaine,
marijuana and meth.”
“The article tells how Guzman, from his hideout in the Sierra Madre of northern
Mexico, directs the Sinaloa cartel, a multi-billion-dollar drug empire target that supplies 80 percent of the heroin, cocaine, marijuana and meth sold in the Chicago region – a $3
billion per year business. The result is a monopoly that has eliminated price
competition between gangs and replaced it with a bloody competition for turf.”
“If this Mexican immigration – nearly 1.5 million people in the city and suburbs – is a
huge contribution to the city’s current prosperity, this criminal underground feeds
the violence that scars its poorer neighborhoods.”
“It’s not that most of the victims are gang members, although many undoubtedly are: many of the victims, including children, are innocent targets caught in the gunfire. But
most of the violence that kills them originates in turf battles between the drug gangs.”
“It’s also the destruction of the housing projects, which were high-rise poverty
warehouses controlled by gangs: many police refused to go into them. They’re mostly gone now, but their gangbangers have scattered to previously peaceful black
neighborhoods: an elderly woman I know in the middle class Chatham neighborhood says
she now feels like a prisoner in her own home.”
“At the same time, police have broken up many of the huge gangs that used to
dominate Chicago’s drug trade. There’s not much good to say about these gangs, but
they did discipline their troops and focus the violence. In their place now are hundreds of mini-gangs, each heavily armed and fighting
to establish control over their own street corner.”
“This crackdown has worked, in a fashion. It pretty well put local meth labs out of
business. But it opened a market for Mexican meth, one of Guzman’s products. It also
created demand for other drugs, including cocaine and heroin, which by all accounts are
flooding into rural Midwestern counties.”
‘We Have Never Experienced This’: Chilling Drug Cartel-Style Threats
Hit Texas BillboardsMay. 24, 2014
Jason Howerton
El Paso police were investigating two mysterious messages painted onto billboards in the border city that included mannequins
dressed in suits hanging from nooses.
“One message read “silver or lead” in Spanish, a threat heard in Mexico signifying pay up or
get shot.”
“This (message) has historically been used by Mexican drug cartels to threaten or intimidate
Mexican citizens, business owners and government officials.”
“The message on the other billboard read, “dying for drugs.”
“Whoever did this went through a lot of work to get this accomplished,” said Phil Jordan, a
former Drug Enforcement Administration agent…”.
“This is possibly a message to someone who hasn’t cooperated with the cartels…this is
going to make the El Paso population uneasy, given that the city is not far from the killing
fields of Mexico.”
Border agent laments gang members entering U.S.: ‘Why are we letting him in here?’
Saturday, June 14, 2014
“Border Patrol officials are swamped by…crossing illegally into the United States and…
they can’t turn away known Mexican gang members.
Chris Cabrera, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 3307…, said…
confirmed gang members in Mexico including…Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) are
coming…to be reunited with their families, National Review reported Friday.