Police: West Chicago man sold 3 kilos of heroin

A West Chicago man is behind bars on $3 million bail facing charges he sold three kilograms of heroin to undercover police officers and had two more kilos, along with a kilogram of suspected fentanyl, in his home, DuPage County authorities said Sunday.

Oscar Paniagua, 57, is charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and one count of delivery of a controlled substance, authorities said. Both are Class X Felonies punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison.

Paniagua appeared in bond court Saturday, when Judge Robert Miller set his bail and ordered him to return to court Aug. 6. Paniagua, who remained in custody at the DuPage County jail Sunday, must post $300,000 to go free while his case is pending.

The charges stem from an investigation in which undercover West Chicago police officers made contact with the Paniagua July 13 and arranged to purchase heroin from him, officials said. The officers later met with Paniagua and bought three kilograms of heroin, authorities said.

During a subsequent search of Paniagua's home, officers found another two kilos of heroin and one kilo of a substance suspected to be fentanyl, officials said. The street value of the drugs recovered was estimated to be more than $900,000.

"I would like to thank the West Chicago Police Department for their truly outstanding work not only in this case but for their continued, proactive efforts in going after drug dealers who are poisoning our streets with these very dangerous narcotics," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in an announcement of the arrest. "Thanks to their efforts, we were able keep a tremendous amount of drugs off the streets of DuPage County. I would also like to thank Assistant State's Attorneys Jim French and Katharine Klosowski for their work in securing strong charges against Mr. Paniagua."