CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Chicago police are stepping up the pressure on drug dealers.
On Thursday, police announced undercover operations have shut down a couple of open-air drug markets. Now, there is new information about the Chicago drug trade following the discovery of two other marijuana growing operations.
SEE: Police investigation leads to seizure of $500K of marijuana
Chicago police told Fox Chicago that they are seeing a shift in how some of the gangs are operating and what they are choosing to sell. While marijuana has always been a major source of income, now it's even more attractive.
When police in a chopper stumbled upon a marijuana farm the size of two football fields growing on public land off the Dan Ryan Expressway, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Police believe it may have been one of the biggest pot growing operations ever discovered in Chicago.
Authorities have not arrested anyone yet and they won't say if it's connected to Mexican drug cartels, but they do say the cartels are growing more and more pot inside the United States to lower their risk of delivering it to major hubs like Chicago.
"Ninety plus percent of all the narcotics that comes into Chicago come from Mexican drug cartels," explains Chief Nick Roti of the Organized Crime Division.
On Thursday, police said undercover investigations shut down two open-air drug markets including one at 85th and Commercial, where gangs were selling marijuana as well as heroin and cocaine. Heroin is the most profitable drug for gangs, but police say they are seeing a move to marijuana.
"A lot of people traditionally that would be selling cocaine and heroin, a lot of them are moving into the cannabis business because there's a lot less penalties and they can make a decent profit," explains Roti.
The mayor joined Chicago police to announce the two sweeps, which also included taking out a drug market on Bryn Mawr between Broadway and Sheridan, and to reinforce the need for neighborhoods to do their part after police do theirs.
"If the community feels like they have ownership, and a role to play in securing the safety that has been given them, provided by police, you will have long term success," Emanuel said at a press conference Thursday.
Police said the two undercover operations--which began several months ago--resulted in 22 arrests from seven different gangs Thursday.
