Ecstasy, meth seized from St. Charles-area house

A 36-year-old man is accused possessing more than 100 Ecstasy pills after postal agents flagged a package sent to him from Spain and searched his house after he accepted it Thursday, authorities said.

Ryan M. Engstrom, of the 38W700 block of Bonnie Court near St. Charles, faces four felony charges, including possession of 50 to 200 Ecstasy pills with intent to deliver and possession of amphetamines, according to Kane County court records.

Kane County sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler said authorities were contacted by agents from Immigrant and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and told a package containing Ecstasy and methamphetamine was intercepted by border patrol agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The package was to be delivered to an address in unincorporated Kane County. The sheriff's office worked with Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Service Police to allow the package to be delivered at Engstrom's house, Gengler said.

As soon as Engstrom accepted the package Thursday, deputies executed a search warrant.

Gengler said deputies seized 101 Ecstasy pills with a street value of about $2,000, along with nearly seven grams of methamphetamine worth a just more than $1,000

Engstrom is being held at the Kane County jail on $50,000 bail, meaning he must post $5,000 to be released while the case is pending.

He is next due in court Dec. 13. If convicted of the most severe charge, Engstrom faces a punishment of six to 30 years in prison with no chance of probation.

Engstrom does not have any previous criminal arrests in Kane, McHenry or DeKalb counties, records show, but he was arrested in October 2001 in Carol Stream on a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty and was fined $755 for offense, records show.