Police stumble onto marijuana operation

Two Round Lake Park men were arrested late last week after police stumbled onto a marijuana distributing operation the men were running.

Lake County Sheriff's Department warrant division deputies were serving a warrant at a home at 225 Kenwood Drive in Round Lake Park around 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

A man, identified as Misael Colima, 20, opened the door and told police the man they were looking for was not at the home and was no longer living there. He also told police he was alone in the home.

At the same time, a second man, identified as Salvador Flores Jr., 29, walked down the stairs of the home.

The deputies then told the men they were going to search the home for the man wanted in the warrant. The men then fled on foot in opposite directions, but were tracked down and brought back to the residence.

Round Lake Park-Hainesville police officers were summoned to the home to assist, and officers found four large plastic bags that contained around 47 pounds of marijuana.

After obtaining a search warrant, police also found a small amount of cocaine in the home, as well as around $2,000 in cash and several scales.

Colima and Flores were charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of marijuana, 5,000 grams or more, and resisting arrest.

The drug charges are Class X and Class 1 felonies respectively. The Class X felony charge, if convicted, carries a prison sentence of between six and 30 years.

Round Lake Park-Hainesville Police Chief George Filenko said the house, from the conditions on the inside, served as a trafficking point for the men.

"Our take on it is it's a rental property and undoubtedly a safe house for bringing it here, cutting it up into selling size and then getting it to the dealers," he said.

Both men are in the Lake County Jail on $750,000 bonds.