Kane County puts dent in heroin market

A Texas woman who is responsible for the biggest heroin bust in Kane County history was shuttling the drugs from Mexico for sale in the Chicago market, police said Wednesday.

Claudia Chagoya, 41, of El Paso, faces several felony charges alleging she ran 7 kilograms of heroin with a street value of $2.1 million to the area, a figure Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez said was “off the charts.”

Chagoya answered to the charges Wednesday afternoon during a bond hearing at the Kane County Judicial Center.

Due to the amount of drugs, their value and Chagoya's flight risk to Texas or Mexico, Associate Judge James Hallock set her bail at $25 million, which means she needs to post $2.5 million to get out of jail while her case is pending. According to statements read in court:

At 9:45 a.m. Monday, a Kane County sheriff's deputy stopped Chagoya's Dodge Dakota at Route 25 and Luda Street in Elgin after she failed to signal a left turn once exiting I-90 at Route 25. The Mexican citizen showed a Texas identification card to the officer and had a passport but no license. She also told the officer she'd left El Paso on Friday to spend between one and two days vacationing in Chicago, where she didn't know anybody.

The officer detained her for driving without a license and checked her name with the El Paso Intelligence Center. The intelligence agency showed that authorities had seized more than $16,000 in drug money from Chagoya at the Mexican border.

Moreover, the deputy found that the pickup truck Chagoya was driving had left Texas and entered Mexico last Monday, then returned to the United States at the same crossing last Thursday. Chagoya was not behind the wheel either time, prosecutors said.

The deputy searched the truck and discovered 14 separate packages of heroin in the drive shaft, the hollow steel tube that runs under the car from the driver's seat to the rear axle. The deputy also found less than a gram of cocaine in Chagoya's purse, authorities said.

According to a police statement read in court, Chagoya was to drop the drugs off at a Chicago hotel and call the drug supplier in Mexico, at which point affiliates would take the truck and unload it.

Police don't know whether Elgin was a stop-off point or Chagoya's final destination. In any event, Chagoya told police she knew the drugs were in the truck and that she'd received $1,000 for her expenses, authorities said. More money would follow after the delivery.

Chagoya, shackled at the wrists and wearing an orange jumpsuit in court, alternately held her head down during the proceedings and made random outbursts, including crying out “Oh my God,” when she learned the heroin was worth $2.1 million.

Chagoya was charged with controlled substance trafficking, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

Based on the sheer amount of heroin, prosecutors are recommending extended prison time if Chagoya is found guilty of the trafficking and delivery charges, said Assistant State's Attorney Kelly Orland. Normally the prison sentence range is between six and 30 years for each, but she could be sentenced to 120 years if found guilty of the trafficking charge alone and would have to serve 75 percent of that sentence. She is due in court May 11.

Her criminal background includes Texas arrests on charges of assault, misdemeanor terrorist threats and two misdemeanor charges for illegal entry. Police did not have details on those cases.

Sheriff Perez attended Wednesday's bond court hearing and said he did not have any sympathy for Chagoya's admitted involvement in what police say was a very sophisticated drug operation.

“It's a conscious decision,” Perez said. “It's not the first time at the rodeo.”

Monday's seizure marks a significant setback for the local heroin market, authorities said. Although the drugs may have ultimately ended up in Chicago, plenty of suburban kids would have gone there to buy the drugs and returned home, Perez said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Ron Hain, the man behind Monday's bust and an eight-year veteran of the force, will be nominated for a commendation, police spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler said.

“To get this much heroin on a traffic stop, it's just phenomenal,” Gengler said.