Addison men charged in marijuana ring

Two Addison men face charges for their alleged roles in a drug operation involving more than 200 marijuana plants and 750 lbs. of cannabis, police said Monday.

Gino Panzeca, 38, and William Katsigiannis, 33, were being held Monday in DuPage County jail on bonds of $500,000 and $200,000, respectively.

Addison police said they assisted drug enforcement agents last week with an investigation into the potential sale of a large amount of cannabis in the 1000 block of Republic Avenue. During the probe, police arrested Panzeca and seized roughly 750 lbs of suspected cannabis, officials said.

Panzeca was later charged with unlawful possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis with intent to deliver, according to police reports.

The investigation then led Addison police Thursday to the 1500 block of Byron Avenue, where officials said they discovered a cannabis-growing operation.

Using a search warrant, police collected more than 160 plants and growing materials, officials said. Officers were on site for about 10 hours, from late Thursday into Friday.

Information at the house on Byron Avenue led police to a third Addison residence in the 800 block of West Kings Point, where another search warrant was executed on suspicion of a cannabis-growing operation.

Police said they recovered 60 more plants, along with growing materials and three guns.

Katsigiannis, who police said is involved with the operations on Byron and Kings Point, was arrested and later charged with unlawful possession and production of cannabis sativa plants; three separate counts of unlawful possession of a firearm; and unlawful possession of ammunition without a firearm owner's identification card, according to reports.

Police said charges are pending for other suspects from these investigations, but they did not say how many are involved.