Kane dope scene takes a hit

August wasn't a good month for Kane County dope dealers, who saw more than a kilogram of cocaine, 14,000 ecstasy pills and 115 marijuana plants taken off the streets in the span of a week.

That's a lot of inventory, no doubt. But police say it doesn't necessarily mean illegal drugs are any more or less prevalent around here than they've always been.

"It's just kind of the nature of drugs," said Kane County Sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler, who was a narcotics investigator for about six years before he became department spokesman.

"Back when I used to do it, it was up and down," he said. "You'd have a ton of cases where you couldn't keep up, then you'd have a lull."

The latest seizures were carried out in late August by the North Central Narcotics Task Force, which said it took down a "major" drug trafficker and confiscated thousands of ecstasy hits dispersed through drug operations in St. Charles and Elgin, and by the sheriff's office, which discovered two marijuana-growing operations in St. Charles Township and recovered $100,000 worth of cocaine in Aurora. The sheriff's office also turned up some narcotic mushrooms.

According to Gengler, the cocaine in particular was a major victory for agents working to root out "higher-end targets," who make a living by distributing it throughout our community, rather than those who buy it.

Gengler said some people question whether a kilogram of cocaine is really worth $100,000 - as police say it is. And he'd like to remind them: Dealers "can make one kilo into two or three," he said, "depending on how much they can cut it with baby laxative."

Yikes.

There's heroin, too: It hasn't made local headlines much lately, but heroin remains a "big problem" in Kane County, particularly in the Tri-Cities area, Gengler said.

One of the most-addictive substances out there, heroin, unfortunately, is one a lot of people in more affluent areas don't like to acknowledge, Gengler said.

"It's actually a big problem," he said. "There's a lot of kids you would say shouldn't have these problems, kids who you might say have been given everything."

As for so-called club drugs, like ecstasy and LSD, Gengler said they're "not as obvious" but readily available on the street, too, for about $25 a hit.

"It's more socially accepted," but still extremely dangerous, Gengler said. "Club drugs are scary because it's all chemical."

On the bright side: Kane County so far has avoided a serious methamphetamine problem, which appears more prevalent in rural areas where other hard-drug uppers, such as crack and powder cocaine, aren't as readily available, according to police.

"Luckily, we haven't been hit with that," Gengler said.