'Dial-A-Rock' arrests show cocaine's popularity in the suburbs

In the suburbs, cocaine is still king.

It's cheap, easy to distribute and as popular as ever as last week's "Dial-A-Rock" drug bust shows, according to drug enforcement authorities.

For the past 10 years, the drug ring distributed cocaine in small amounts all over the Northwest suburbs from a stash house in Schaumburg.

"It's cheap. A quick fix costs about $40," said Cmdr. Ken Galinski of the Arlington Heights Police Department. "We see a lot of cocaine and marijuana arrests around here."

Will Taylor, a special agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, said cocaine has been a suburban problem for decades.

"People think crack cocaine is an inner-city problem, but it's not," Taylor said. "This wasn't your typical street-corner type of deal. There wasn't a huge amount of dope seized, but it was a very organized operation."

The customers arrested Thursday were definitely suburban. They ranged in age from their early 20s to mid-50s and lived in Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg. Most have families, regular jobs and no criminal background. Many used the drug service for years.

Ector Cortez, 40, was the ringleader and his arrest might shut down the "Dial-A-Rock" funnel of cocaine from Jalisco, Mexico, to the suburbs for good, Galinski said.

"Taking Ector down, that will leave a big void," he said. "He pretty much ran everything. His runners would be easy to replace; they would just ship up another guy from Mexico. But this was a big hit to the organization."

Cortez - who is married and has children - ran a low-key operation from his Rolling Meadows apartment, authorities said. His runners conducted their sales from rundown cars, authorities said. If one of his runners was arrested, Cortez used profits from the drug sales to bail them out of jail, Galinski said.

When police confiscated one of the cars, Cortez left it abandoned at an impound lot, Galinski added.

Cortez's runners were mostly single and lived in rundown apartments, according to authorities. They lived in areas where people minded their own business and didn't snitch on their neighbors.

Cortez was charged with unlawful criminal drug conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver, felonies that carry a sentence of 15 to 60 years in prison.

Authorities said that before his arrest, he moved one-quarter kilo of cocaine, worth about $50,000, every couple of days. Cortez, who lives in a modest apartment here, has multiple homes and businesses in Mexico.

Six drug dealers and 25 customers were arrested Thursday after an eight-month investigation. Besides 19 vehicles and $50,000 in cash, police seized 1,500 grams of crack and powder cocaine with a street value of $150,000.

Cmdr. Steve Husak of the Buffalo Grove Police Department said most of the cocaine in the suburbs is distributed by street gangs.

"There are hubs in Chicago and Waukegan, and it's still profitable," Husak said. "People who buy (cocaine) don't need $150 or $200 to get a hit. It's affordable."

John Teevans, deputy chief of the Wheeling Police Department, wasn't surprised, either, by this week's drug bust.

"It's good to see the feds were involved," Teevans said. "They can look at the bigger picture."

Cortez returns to court on May 7.