In March 2010 Nebraska state police made a traffic stop that produced a valuable insight into the movement of heroin out of Chicago to smaller cities around the midwest. Authorities have not disclosed who was pulled over or why. But while no drugs were seized, “the people in the car had information about what was going on in Waterloo,” says federal prosecutor Lisa Williams.
Appling indicated that he might be willing to cooperate with additional investigations into heroin distribution in Waterloo. He was released from custody.
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For generations, Chicago-based heroin distributors have exported their product to large urban markets in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. But the business isn’t limited to big cities. In the last six months alone, authorities have arrested Chicago residents for allegedly setting up heroin operations in smaller cities and towns such as Burlington, Vermont; Steubenville, Ohio; and Jefferson City, Missouri.
In northeastern Iowa, the Chicago connection is so well established that Sergeant David Dostal brings it up during every interview he conducts with heroin users and dealers. “I’ll ask them, ‘Have you ever gone to Chicago to pick anything up?’” says Dostal, a Cedar Rapids narcotics officer assigned to the DEA’s drug task force. In some cases, “they’ll drive to pick up product, and in exchange they’ll get one or two grams.”
Authorities say the heroin trade in Waterloo was controlled at that time by Appling and several underlings, most of them originally from Chicago, who saw a business opportunity.
Catherine and Lawrence Johnson’s homes became known as places to buy. On one occasion, a customer recalled meeting a girlfriend of Lawrence’s who’d just arrived from Chicago with a supply of heroin: “She was under the impression that she could come here and get rich quick,” the customer recalled.
Instead, just over a month later, authorities moved in, raiding 17 Waterloo residences, including Lawrence Johnson’s, and seizing heroin and five guns. That April, Lawrence Johnson, Appling (who was still on the lam), and six others were indicted in federal district court in Cedar Rapids on drug conspiracy and distribution charges.
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Afternoon Shift: Interview with Daniel Bigg, cofounder and executive director of the Chicago Recovery Alliance
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Chicago is hub for heroin in the Midwest. By Rob Wildeboer, WBEZ
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