Two charged after Lombard-area drug raid

The owner and manager of a smoke shop in an unincorporated area near Lombard face felony drug charges after authorities seized $1 million worth of synthetic marijuana and bath salts from the business, authorities said Friday.

The DuPage County sheriff’s tactical narcotics team raided the store Dec. 15, also netting drug paraphernalia and more than $5,000 in cash from Sergio’s Discount Smoke Shop, 21W500 North Ave. The store’s operations were shut down, authorities said.

The shop’s owner, George Rantis, 49, of St. Charles, and the manager, Sergio Delcid, 46, of Chicago, were arrested Friday and charged with the manufacture and delivery of more than 200 grams of a controlled substance.

Bail was set at $100,000. Both Rantis and Delcid posted the required $10,000 bond and were released from the county jail.

The raid marked the first search warrant issued for the substances in DuPage after a state law banned hallucinogenic bath salts in July 2011. Nine synthetic cannabis compounds also were outlawed.

The tactical narcotics team had conducted a three-month undercover investigation.

Some of the names of the bath salts included “Charley Sheene” and “Ultra,” while the synthetic marijuana had names like “K2,” “Spice” and “Red Magic.”

In 1998, Delcid was charged with the unlawful sale of nitrous oxide in DuPage. He pleaded guilty in April 1998 and successfully completed one year of court supervision.