Father charged with hiding PCP in child's pocket

After police spotted a 2-year-old girl riding in a SUV without a car seat Monday they pulled it over to discover that the girl was riding on her dad's lap and that he had hidden 26 packages of PCP in her pants' pocket.
The stop happened 12:45 p.m. in the 1300 block of South Harding Avenue in the North Lawndale neighborhood, as the girl's 24-year-old father, Emmanuel Wiggins, rode in the SUV.
Police said Wiggins, of the 1400 block of South Harding Avenue, was a passenger inside the 1999 black Chevrolet SUV that they pulled over after seeing the toddler sitting on Wiggins’ lap and not property restrained.
After making the stop, they asked Wiggins why the girl wasn't in a car seat and he replied that he and his daughter were getting dropped off around the corner.
While speaking to Wiggins, police smelled a strong chemical odor coming from him that officers believed was PCP. As Wiggins exited the SUV holding the little girl in his arms, police noticed a bulge in her pants, police said.
They checked it and found a clear plastic bag containing 26 tin foil packages that were folded up and contained a leafy substance they learned was laced with PCP.
As Wiggins was being placed into custody he said: “I’m sorry! I know I fu up! Please don’t take my daughter away!’’ .
“I got nervous when you guys stopped us and tried to hide it in her clothes’’.
The toddler was taken to Saint Anthony Hospital so they could make sure the drugs didn’t enter her system,

Breaking down the phony war on drugs

At least 10 arrested on felony drug charges related to Lollapalooza

At least 10 people appeared in court Sunday to face felony drug charges related to Lollapalooza, including a Chicago man who prosecutors say was carrying more than 150 pills of MDMA, also known as Ecstasy.

Sean Magee, 24, of the 6700 block of South Campbell Avenue, was making a hand-to-hand deal Friday afternoon at the three-day music festival when police officers first spotted him today. They later saw him offer another attendee “rolls,” a slang term for Ecstasy.
When authorities approached him, Magee ran away and tried to get a rid of a white bottle
Police found him in possession of 153 pills of MDMA — worth more than $3,000 — and a large bag containing seven smaller bags of marijuana.
Magee was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor count of possession of cannabis, manufacture or delivery more than 15 Ecstasy pills and two felony counts of delivery of cannabis.
Authorities also arrested Anthony Nelson, 24, of the 4300 block of West Fairfax Street in Oak Lawn, after he shouted, “Who wants molly?” Saturday afternoon at Lollapaloozarecords. “Molly” is slang for MDMA.
A nearby officer responded to Nelson's inquiry and found four bags of MDMA in his front pocket. In total, Nelson allegedly had 27 pills of the substance, worth nearly $700.
Nelson was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
A Metra police officer found drugs on a Chicago teen who ignored the officer’s warning about hopping the fence around Lollapalooza. Dylan Horach, 18, of the 3700 block of North Sacramento Avenue, tried again Saturday evening to cross the fence near the Van Buren Metra station and was arrested.
Horach had in his possession a hit of LSD and about 4 grams of a substance he told the officer he found on the beach. The powder was heroin, the court records said.
Horach was charged with trespassing on state land, delivery of less than 5 grams of LSD and possession of a controlled substance. Sullivan set Horach’s bail at $10,000.

Man had marijuana, heroin worth $3.7 million

A Chicago man was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail after authorities said they busted him with illegal drugs worth more than $3.7 million Saturday.
Noe Montes, 39, of the 3100 block of West 42nd Street, faces charges of possessing more than 5,000 grams of cannabis and possessing more than 900 grams of heroin.
All told, Montes allegedly had 1,200 pounds of cannabis worth more than $3.2 million and 5,143 grams of suspected heroin--more than 11 pounds--worth about $514,000.
Montes was arrested with the narcotics Saturday at a business in the 2800 block of South Kedzie Avenue

17 face drug, weapons charges

Federal authorities today announced a series of indictments on drug and weapons charges against 17 people following an investigation underway since 2012.
Chicago police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents used federal wiretaps on at least a dozen phones in the investigation, which led to charges against father-and-son drug dealers, their suppliers and at least eight major customers.
Authorities seized more than 14 kilograms of cocaine, three kilograms of heroin, 15 firearms and approximately $320,000 in cash.
 Those arrested were father and son Johnny Chaparro, 50 and Johnny Mendez, 29. Also arrested were
Jose Arguijo, 35
Anthony Madison, 47
Paul Jenkins, 63
Lakicha White, 36
Dilson Rocha, 58
Joel Melendez
Dwayne Payne, 29
Modesto Meireles, 62
Antonio Valencia-Pantoja, 23
Lucio Cuevas, 24
Delilah Martinez, 33

$10M worth of cocaine found in man's home

A search of a South Side home Friday revealed about $10 million worth of cocaine and more than $500,000 cash, leading to the arrest of the 21-year-old man who lived there. Two others also face felony charges in the case.
Jose Pelayo-Aguilar, of the 3600 block of South Leavitt Avenue, was charged with manufacturing or delivering and possessing more than 900 grams of cocaine.
A police report says Pelayo-Aguilar admitted to asking Patricia Sugey to deliver one kilogram of cocaine to Roger Zeni.
Sugey, who is being held on $50,000 bail, and Zeni, who is being held on $25,000, also face felony charges in the case.
During a search of Pelayo-Aguilar’s home in the McKinley Park neighborhood, police recovered 79 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of about $10 million, and at least $539,406 cash.
Pelayo-Aguilar’s lawyer, Joseph Lopez, said his client knew nothing about the drugs and “was caught up in the middle of it.”

Drugs found, sold inside candy store; worker arrested

A candy store worker has been charged after Chicago Police found illegal drugs were being sold out of the Far South Side store.
The employee, Gloria Estrada, 46, of the 8200 block of South Houston Avenue, was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of cannabis
South Chicago District tactical officers executed a search warrant at the store Saturday in the 3000 block of East 83rd Street and Estrada was arrested.
Police investigating recent violence in that area learned narcotics transactions were taking place inside the candy store.
Earlier this week, surveillance was been set up and two other people were arrested for possession of cannabis and possession of a controlled substance, crack cocaine, police said. Those arrests enabled officers to secure the search warrant.
Officers recovered four knotted baggies of crack cocaine as well as a large, clear bag containing 20 smaller baggies, each containing cannabis. Police also seized cash believed to be the proceeds of narcotics sales

Police find pot in frozen strawberries

The cargo was supposed to be buckets of frozen strawberries, but officers noticed the truck was not refrigerated and was headed to a home.
After the truck pulled into a driveway on the South Side Wednesday night, officers sent police dogs into the back and discovered that 350 pounds of marijuana had been embedded in the strawberries. They took a man in custody and went to his Dolton home, where they found more marijuana and a handgun.
Eventually, officers were led to a South Side warehouse where they found hundreds of buckets of frozen strawberries with marijuana buried inside.
In all, police said they recovered more than 1,000 buckets of strawberries containing more than 2,500 pounds of marijuana destined for gangs in the areas of 80th Street and St. Lawrence Avenue, and 83rd Street and Commercial Avenue.
Officials estimated the street value at $6.8 million.
Martin Rosas, 41, of the 1200 block of East 147th Street in Dolton, was charged with possessing more than 5,000 grams of cannabis.
Police said the department's Bureau of Organized Crime and the Narcotics Division began the investigation after receiving a tip about a group who were involved in drug trafficking on the Southeast Side,

16 arrested in 2-year probe of Latin Kings gang

Federal and local officers arrested 16 people this week as part of a two-year investigation into drug-trafficking rings associated with the Latin Kings street gang.
One ring, led by Damian Rivera, 31, of Burbank, distributed or tried to distribute more than 12 pounds of heroin, collecting more than $171,000 in drug proceeds between March and June, prosecutors alleged in court documents this week.
Nine people, including Rivera, were arrested in that investigation this week, two remain fugitives, and one was already in custody.
Rivera's ring was to have received a 3,684-pound shipment of marijuana that U.S. Customs officers seized after it was found hidden in furniture on a tractor-trailer at the Mexican border in Laredo, Texas.
The second ring, led by Alan “Ghost” Cisneros, 27, of Summit—who prosecutors say was the Midwest leader of the Almight Latin King Nation until his May arrest—distributed pounds of cocaine in the Chicago area, according to court documents. Seven people charged in the Cisneros-led ring were arrested this week.
Among those allegedly in the Cisneros ring, three were arrested and charged with conspiring to rob what they thought was a drug stash house. The supposed stash house was actually part of an undercover sting operation.
Federal and local law enforcement seized cash and 13 firearms in their sweep on Wednesday. A total of 22 people were charged in federal criminal complaints filed Tuesday, and unsealed after Wednesday’s arrests. Another 17 people face state charges in related cases.
Those charged in the federal cases appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys, and all but one was ordered held pending detention hearings next week

23 arrested in North Side drug sweep

Police arrested 23 people and seized three vehicles and three weapons in a drug sweep that targeted two gangs in the city’s Uptown neighborhood.
The sweep on Thursday followed a long-term investigation that was spurred by unsolved shootings and homicides in the area of Argyle Street to Wilson Avenues and Racine Avenue to Lake Shore Drive.
Detectives uncovered heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and illegal prescription medications. Three weapons, three vehicles and cash also were seized in the sweep.
Twenty-three people that included gang members with extensive criminal backgrounds were arrested. An additional 10 people are being sought in connection with the investigation

Dozens arrested running drug markets on South, West sides

Chicago police officials said today that they have arrested 39 people and confiscated several guns, drugs and vehicles as they "dismantled" drug operations that accounted for millions of dollars in yearly drug sales on the South and West sides.
Police made the announcement today while touting the results of several narcotics division investigations that targeted operations in the Wentworth and the Chicago Lawn districts on the South Side and in the Grand Central district on the city's west side.
The latest police actions are continuation of arrests that took place last week. Nearly 90 people have been arrested as part of the combined operations.
"The relationship between gangs, drugs, and violence is longstanding," said Chicago Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy. "Only a collaborative, comprehensive, and unrelenting approach will diminish it, as we are seeing in our strategies to target drug markets devastating communities affected by gang violence."
In the Wentworth district, officers "dismantled" a drug operation that yearly sold more than $2.3 million worth of heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis. Police targeted the area along 43rd Street between Michigan and Calumet avenues which were frequented by street gangs.
Using surveillance and covert narcotics purchases, police targeted 23 people in the enterprise and arrested 20 for drug-related offenses

Busts close 3 drug markets on South, West sides and land 49 in jail

Forty-nine people are facing charges after three separate investigations on the West and South sides uncovered cash, drugs and in one instance, a weapon used in an assault against a police officer. 
The multiple investigations targeted drug markets in the city’s Wentworth, Englewood and Harrison Districts.
On the West Side, investigators identified 30 wanted individuals linked to six different street gangs in the area of Keeler to Kildare avenues and Monroe to Adams streets.
While executing search warrants, police found heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana along with four firearms, including one that was linked to recent West Side shootings.
 In one instance, officers attempted to stop a man on the 200 block of South Kildare Avenue to determine his identity.
But when officers approached the man, later identified as Pierre Blakney, 21, he aimed a pistol at police and fled on foot.
Blakney of the 3700 block of West Flournoy Street, was charged with aggravated assault to a police officer, armed violence, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and manufacture and delivery of heroin within 1,000 feet of a school or church.
A total of 25 people were charged with drug-related offense in that investigation.
On the South Side, investigators foiled a drug market estimated to net more than $1.1 million annually in drug sales in the Wentworth District.
The six-month investigation targeted the Gangster Disciple street gang in the area of 47th Street from Michigan to Calumet avenues, police said. Twelve of 14 wanted members involved in drug sales in that area were arrested and face drug-related charges.
In the Englewood District, detectives targeted a drug market in the area of the 5600 to 5800 blocks of South Morgan Avenue and Wood Street. Twelve of 14 wanted suspects were arrested and charged with drug-related offenses in that sting

14 face drug charges after South Side bust

Ten people have been arrested and four more are facing drug charge warrants after a three-month investigation revealed two weapons and narcotics on the South Side in the city’s Back of Yards neighborhood.
The investigation targeted the Black P-Stone street gang in the area of the 5200 block of South May Street and was launched in March after a double homicide.
Police used video surveillance and other tactics to capture 10 of 14 wanted suspects.
During the investigation a loaded high point 9mm rifle and a 9mm handgun were recovered.

The 10 people who were charged with possession and delivery of a controlled substance include Derrick Brown, 20; Kevin Bass, 17; Sandy Hall, 33; Curtistine Elliot, 43; John Elliot, 49; Heath Huntspon, 23; Booker Rice, 56; Robert R. Moore, 26; Jeremy Pidwinski, 21; and Mustafa Muhammad, 22.

Also wanted and named in warrants in connection with the investigation are Darrius Norwood, 19; Kenvin Wells, 21; Jasmine Jackson, age not available, and Robert T. Moore, 25

19 arrested after nearly 3-year Humboldt Park drug probe

A total of 19 Chicago-area men are facing federal or state charges after a nearly three-year-long investigation into gang-related drug and weapon sales in the Humboldt Park area.
The arrests were made Tuesday after federal charges were unsealed against some of the 19, with others facing state charges as part of the three-year investigation by Joint Task Force on Gangs. Many of those arrested are suspected members or associates of the Imperial Gangsters street gang.
According to the charges, those arrested took part in ongoing sales of cocaine and heroin, and possessed illegal weapons, mostly on the Near Northwest Side near Humboldt Park, from at least December 2009 until May.
In addition to the FBI, members of the Chicago, Franklin Park and Stirling police departments took part in the investigation, along with the U.S. Attorney's office, the Illinois Attorney General's office, the Cook County State's Attorney's office and others.
The investigation used undercover and controlled purchases of illegal narcotics and firearms, along with court authorized electronic surveillance of telephones.
More than a kilogram of crack cocaine, 250 grams of powder cocaine and 125 grams of heroin were recovered along with 31 firearms, about $4,000 in cash and three vehicles.
Those arrested on federal charges have appeared in court and are being held until their next court dates, while those facing state charges are taking part in bond court hearings

Search warrants uncover drugs, guns and counterfeit singles

Search warrants executed today at two Southeast Side residences turned up heroin assault-style weapons and sheets of counterfeit single-dollar bills
As part of an ongoing investigation of a 33-year-old man with suspected gang ties, South Chicago District tactical officers and members of the SWAT team served the warrants at two addresses on the 7500 block of South Chappel Avenue at about 7:30 a.m.
In one home heroin worth about $3,700 was found, while in a garage there three assault-style rifles and an assault-style .22-caliber pistol were discovered. All the weapons were loaded and had high-capacity ammunition magazines.
At the other home on the same side of the block, police found sheets of apparently counterfeit dollar bills next to clothing owned by the 33-year-old man targeted by the search warrants.
The man was not at either location and the investigation was ongoing

Man charged with importing heroin from Kenya in picture frame

A Chicago man has been charged with trying to take possession of heroin concealed in a picture frame he had had shipped from Kenya to the downtown hotel where he worked.
Taiwo Obayemi, 34, of the 5100 block of South Blackstone Avenue in Chicago, was arrested Wednesday near his home after the picture frame had been shipped to his work place, the W Hotel, 644 N. Lake Shore Dr.
U.S. Homeland Security agents investigated six packages supposedly containing picture frames or framed prints sent to the hotel from a children’s home in Nairobi, Kenya.
The last one, which Obayemi eventually was arrested with, had been sent with a little less than 5 ounces of heroin concealed in it.
Five previous shipments, which also were made via DHL, went from the children’s home in Nairobi to fictitious people at the W Hotel starting in November 2011.
Federal agents intercepted the sixth package in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 31.
About 4.75 ounces of heroin were found in the frame and the frame was sent on to Chicago, where agents took the heroin out and replaced it with fake heroin.
The frame was sent on to the W Hotel, where Obayemi eventually took it and was driven by someone else to his neighborhood.
When Obayemi got out of the car, agents approached him, and when they identified themselves as police, he began to run and dropped the package.
After his arrest, Obayemi told agents he had a person in Nigeria send the packages to him, and told agents “he accepted the illegal package because of greed and the things he wanted,”. Text messages to and from Obayemi indicate he was dealing heroin and discussing the price of the drug with customers.
In an interview with one of the people who received deliveries at the W Hotel, agents were told that Obayemi had received about five packages in the last year similar to the one he received Wednesday.
Obayemi was convicted in 1999 of possessing heroin with intent to distribute and conspiracy to import a controlled substance, and sentenced to 87 months in prison. He was released from federal prison in 2004

DEA: Drug suspect sends mom to pick up heroin at pancake house

Authorities allege that a drug suspect running late for a rap concert sent his mother in a silver minivan to pick up 10 kilos of heroin from a North Side pancake house.

Jesus "Pepe" Fuentes, 37, was charged this week in federal court with his mother, Ester Carrera, 59, and their alleged heroin supplier, Pedro Salas, 21. Fuentes and his mother are from Gary while Salas is from Belvidere, Ill., and Salem, Ore.
Fuentes had just flown into Chicago on April 7 and set up a meeting to pick up 10 "buffets" at a parking garage at a hotel just off the Magnificent Mile, according to the charges. Time was of the essence, Fuentes told his contacts. And he was sending "the missus" — his mom — to make sure the deal got done.
"I have a big event with that Scarface and everybody partying," the Drug Enforcement Administration quoted Fuentes as saying in a recorded call.
At about 5 p.m., Fuentes, his mom and a Salas deputy met inside the parking garage and Fuentes learned the worker hadn't brought any heroin, thinking he was supposed to pick up cash instead. The parties agreed that Fuentes' mother would pick up the heroin at an International House of Pancakes in Lakeview, near a Salas stash house.
After the pickup, Fuentes' mother was pulled over near the Drake Hotel for not using a turn signal. Agents seized the heroin.

12 arrested in Southeast Side drug investigation

Twelve people were arrested during a Southeast Side drug bust that nettled more than $730,000 in narcotics.
The disbanded drug market was purportedly controlled by members of the Gangster Disciple and Black P. Stone street gangs, and a Mexican drug-trafficking cartel.
On Thursday, officers from the department’s narcotics unit and South Chicago District made the 12 arrests and seized about $722,000 in marijuana and $10,000 in crack cocaine, heroin and drug money. Also seized were five vehicles and two handguns.
The narcotics unit officers initiated the surveillance on the drug operation and infiltrated it. Undercover officers made purchases to identify the suspects before arrest and search warrants were devised for the bust.
Two other suspects remain at large. The other 12 face drug-related charges.
The investigation was centered around the areas of the 7900 block of South Bennett Avenue, and the 7900 block of South Yates Boulevard. Police said it also extended into southern Cook County.
“The Chicago Police Department continues its efforts to alleviate violence and chronic narcotic markets in all neighborhoods,” James O’Grady, commander of the narcotics unit, said in a news release.
Police did not detail the charges against the 12 defendants, saying they were charged with various narcotics-related counts:

• Melvin Birgans, 55, of the 7700 block of South Bennett.
• Steven Willis, 23, of the 6700 block of South Jeffery Blvd.
• Donald Strickland, 55, of the 8100 block of South Bennett.
• Darrell Williams, 22, of the 8000 block of South Euclid
• Richard Pierce, 56, of the 2100 block of East 79th St.
• Robert Brandy, 41, of the 7500 block of South Hoyne.
• Adrian Fields, 55, of the 7700 block of South Bennett.
• Gary Johnson, 56, of the 1700 block of East 78th St.
• Alejandro Medina, 34, of the 500 block of Lincoln, Calumet City.
• Juan Castro, 28, of the 2500 block of Dorothy Dr., Aurora.
• Darryl Hardy, 32, of the 1000 block of East 41st Pl.
• April Felton, 22, of the 7800 block of South Langley.

Pierce was charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance. Birgans, Willis, Strickland, Brandy, Felton and Johnson were charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. Fields was charged with possession of a control and resisting a police officer, and Hardy and Castro were charged with possession of more than 5,000 grams of marijuana

9 arrested in West Side heroin-dealing investigation

Nine gang members were arrested Saturday as Chicago police moved to shut down an open-air heroin market in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.
CPD First Deputy Superintendent Al Wysinger said residents’ complaints about violence at the intersection of Hamlin and Ohio streets prompted a two-month investigation of drug sales there, leading to the arrests, $6,700 in cash and several grams of heroin worth about $3,000 on the street.

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Operation Devil's Playground nets 12 suspects

Twelve people have been charged after a three-year investigation into sales of guns, cocaine and methamphetamine in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the South Side.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Devil's Playground, involved the FBI and the Chicago Police and targeted drug and gun trafficking by the Satan Disciple gang.
The investigation focused on an area near 59th and Richmond streets where 11 firearms and more than $15,000 was recovered.
Five of the 12 were named in federal criminal complaints charging them with selling guns and drugs: Ranulfo Valadares, 30; Luis Castaneda, 29 of Berwyn; Jaime Reyes, 35 and Refugio Avila, 31, the FBI said. Juan Castaneda, 27, is wanted and the subject of a manhunt.
If convicted, Valadares and Juan Castaneda face a sentence from 10 years to life in prison. Reyes and Avila face a 10-year sentence and Luis Castaneda faces a 20-year sentence,.
The other seven charged are Gerardo Gomez, 22; Myra Perez, 25; Sergio Banderas, 29; Steven Buegel, 32; Lawrence Winston, 35; Marcus Gordon, 28 and Jessie Talavera

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