Men charged after $1.4 million Elk Grove Village pot bust
Two men have been charged with drug possession after authorities discovered 1,700 pounds of marijuana hidden in pallets of soup crackers being unloaded at an Elk Grove Village warehouse.
Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo on Wednesday ordered Adam Flores-Ibarra, 26, and Saul Macias, 23, held on $250,000 bail each.
The drugs have an estimated street value of $1.4 million, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Gbenga Longe.
Investigators from the Illinois State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration planned to execute a search warrant Monday at a warehouse in the 1100 block of Howard Street when they saw the men unloading the pallets from a truck, Longe said.
Officers arrested Flores-Ibarra, who has lived in Elk Grove for about three weeks, and Macias, a resident of Deer Park, Texas, Longe said. She added that the office attached to the warehouse contained no files or paperwork indicating anyone conducted business there.
Longe asked Cataldo for a hearing on the source of bail funds if the defendants post the required $25,000. The hearing is to determine if the money comes from legitimate sources, Longe said.
If convicted, the men could face up to 15 years in prison. They next appear in court on Nov. 20.