Record-setting drug bust in McHenry Co.

The McHenry County sheriff's officers executed the largest drug bust in the county's history Sunday, seizing about 1,500 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $1.5 million.

Sheriff Keith Nygren said a semitrailer truck hauling what was believed to be onions was located at a rural property on the 14000 block of Harmony Road near Huntley.

Five people were arrested and charged with unlawful possession of cannabis with the intent to deliver and unlawful possession of cannabis, both felonies.

Those arrested were: Alfredo Bautista, 30, of Frankfort; Kip Earnest Dalke, 32, of Pingree Grove; Jesus Raymond Padilla, 34, of Hanover Park; Carlos Martin Rodriguez, 32 of Blue Island; and Guillermo Rodriguez, 44, of Blue Island.

The operation was a collaboration between the McHenry County sheriff's office narcotics division and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Nygren would not say where the semi or the marijuana came from, but said the haul was from out of state.

Investigators seized 58 bails of marijuana and $8,000 in cash. The marijuana bails were concealed in 50-pound bags of onions. The officers observed the suspects unloading pallets of onions with a forklift into a pole barn on the Harmony Road property.

"This is 1,500 pounds taken off the street," Nygren said. "That's a significant amount of dope."

Nygren said investigators do not believe the property owner or the tenant of the farmhouse are involved with the drug operation.

The property is less than a mile from Huntley High School and Leggee Elementary School.

"They were a pretty sophisticated operation," Nygren said. "They had counter-surveillance in a couple of cars following the truck. They were not your local dealer. They were large distributors and dealers of marijuana."

The previous largest drug bust in McHenry County was about 300 pounds in 1997.

Nygren said at about 7 p.m. Sunday officials located the truck on the Jane Addams Tollway after federal drug enforcement officials notified McHenry County investigators of the activity. Officials initially suspected the semi was headed for Chicago, but it turned off the interstate onto Route 20 in Hampshire.

"This took a lot of courage and professionalism to make it all come together," Nygren said.