Cook Co. cops make $20 million pot bust
Cook County sheriff's police have seized more than $20 million worth of marijuana during one of the biggest cannabis busts in the history of the department.
Sheriff Tom Dart said Friday that sheriff's police seized 5,525 pounds of marijuana at a house on the 7800 block of West 47th Street in Lyons on Wednesday.
Cook County sheriff's police were tipped off and conducted surveillance of Frederico Moreno, 35, who had access to the home in Lyons where the drugs were stored, Dart said.
During the surveillance, Moreno met with various people and, at one point, exchanged a package with someone that was indicative of drug dealing, a news release said.
Sheriff's police then followed Moreno back to the home on 47th Street. He entered the building and a short time later left again in his car, this time carrying a plastic container.
Investigators stopped Moreno and found one bale of marijuana in his car. He was arrested following the traffic stop, the news release said.
Officers returned to the 47th Street house where, as they were walking up to the home, they witnessed an unidentified man run through the house and out the back door. When leaving the house, man left the back door of the home open, and in plain view, officers saw an additional 224 bales of taped packages containing cannabis stacked inside the residence.
According to Dart, Moreno was a high-level importer for a drug trafficking organization that was operating in the Chicago area.
The news release said the drugs seized came from Mexico and traveled through the Southwest to be distributed in Chicago. The packages were sold wholesale to mid-level distributors, then broken down by distributors for street-level sales.
The case was investigated by the Cook County sheriff's North Narcotics team, made up of sheriff's police and investigators from the Cook County state's attorney's office and the DEA.
Moreno has been charged with manufacturing and delivery of cannabis, a Class X felony. If found guilty, he could spend up to 30 years behind bars. Moreno is scheduled to appear in bond court Saturday.
His legal status in the country is unknown at this time, the news release said.