Warrenville men face heroin charges after home searched
Two Warrenville brothers have been arrested on heroin-dealing charges following an “extensive investigation” by Wheaton police, authorities announced Tuesday.
Deontae Johnson, 18, and Dominique Johnson, 21, were charged after police executed a search warrant June 21 at their home on the 3S600 block of Melcher Avenue.
Dominique Johnson is accused of selling less than a gram of heroin three days before the search. Authorities later recovered between one and 15 grams of heroin and an unspecified amount of marijuana while executing the warrant, according to police and court records.
Police Cmdr. Jim Volpe said the arrests resulted from a lengthy investigation focused on dealers who bring drugs into Wheaton.
“Dealers are all over the place and when they come into Wheaton to sell to our kids, that’s when we take great interest in them,” he said, adding the Johnsons are suspected of being “active for a very long time.”
Both men remained jailed Tuesday with bail set at $115,000 for Dominique Johnson and $100,000 for Deontae Johnson. They each have been charged with heroin possession with intent to deliver. Dominique Johnson also was charged with delivery of a controlled substance.
Police did not disclose other details of the investigation. The suspects are set for arraignment July 30.
Last week, Coroner Richard Jorgensen said DuPage County had averaged nearly one fatal heroin overdose a day this month, with 15 deaths between July 1 and July 17.
So far in 2013, there have been 18 confirmed heroin deaths, while as many as 15 other suspected cases are awaiting toxicology reports. There were 38 heroin-related deaths in 2012 and 27 in 2011, according to Jorgensen, who called the most recent figures “way out of the norm.”