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Three charged in Naperville drug case

Naperville police announced Thursday that a narcotics investigation they conducted with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service led to the arrest of three people on drug charges Wednesday.

The postal service intercepted a suspicious package it determined contained five pounds of marijuana and was to be delivered to a residence on the 800 block of Pueblo Court in Naperville.

Police said members of both agencies delivered the package to the home, and two suspects, Daniel Muhammad Waseem, 24, and Awais Mohammed Khan, 27, were seen leaving the residence with the drugs. They then drove to the residence of the third suspect, 18-year-old Nickolas J. Gelardi, on the 1400 block of Lily Cache Lane in Bolingbrook, police said.

Waseem and Khan were seen making a drug deal with Gelardi, whereupon all three arrested without incident, police said.

In addition to the original package, additional large amounts of marijuana, currency and related evidence were recovered from Waseem’s car and from Gelardi’s residence, police said.

Police said that prior to the arrests, Waseem and Khan were observed making “hand-to-hand” drug transactions with buyers in Naperville-area business parking lots. Also, the two were seen stopping for a short time at a residence on the 1600 block of Lonsdale Avenue, where authorities later recovered additional drugs, police said. Two additional suspects will be charged after arrest warrants are obtained.

Later, a search of Waseem’s residence on Pueblo Court turned up marijuana and items related to drug trafficking, police said.

Searching Khan’s home on the 1920 block of Rancho Lane in Des Plaines, police found marijuana, currency and items related to drug trafficking, authorities said.

The three suspects were charged in Will County, with additional charges pending in DuPage and Cook counties.

Waseem and Khan are charged with cannabis trafficking and manufacture/delivery of cannabis, both felonies.

Gelardi is charged with manufacture/delivery of cannabis.

Authorities seized more than 15 pounds of cannabis, electronics, a 2006 BMW, a 2006 Lexus and $85,855 in cash.

Nickolas J. Gelardi, Bolingbrook man charged in Naperville drug case
Awais Mohammed Khan, Des Plaines man charged in Naperville drug case
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