Round Lake Park cops say net dropped on more drug dealers in Operation Street Sweep
Round Lake Park police say they have made more arrests in a continuing investigation of local reputed drug dealers and street gang members.
Police Chief George Filenko said gang unit officers executed a search warrant Wednesday in the 300 block of East Elder Drive, where two suspects were seized.
Adam J. Hallgren, 22, who lives at the Elder Drive home, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police said Alexander G. Bowser, 19, of the 1400 block of North Poplar Avenue in Round Lake Beach, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana.
Filenko said about 35 grams of pot and roughly nine grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms were recovered at the house. He said the mushrooms and marijuana were packaged for individual sales.
Various items used to weigh and package narcotics also were seized, he said.
In September 2011, the Elder Drive home was targeted for an armed home invasion, Filenko said. At that time, four juveniles wearing ski masks and armed with a semiautomatic handgun and a baseball bat forced their way into the house in an attempt to steal drugs and cash, he said.
“This guy (Hallgren) was dealing dope back then and these (suspects) were some of his customers,” he said.
Wednesday's busts were part of the continuing Operation Street Sweep involving federal and local law-enforcement authorities that began in Round Lake Park and neighboring towns in April 2012. U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other federal agents assigned to a regional gang-intervention unit have been part of the operation. Local illicit drug sales and gang activity have been the focus for investigators.
Last week, authorities involved in Operation Street Sweep said three reputed gang members were arrested after they received a search warrant for a home on the 200 block of Persimmon Court in Round Lake Beach. Filenko said $1,958 in cash and 263 grams of marijuana, with a street value of about $3,000, were recovered.