(CHICAGO) Two dozen people are facing federal drug charges after “Operation Alley Cat” busted two drug rings trafficking heroin and cocaine in the Chicago area and in Wisconsin.
Agents from the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration working with the Chicago Strike Force seized 77 kilos of cocaine and 138 grams of heroin throughout the 2 1/2-year investigation, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Authorities used extensive surveillance and wiretapped cellphones to identify two separate networks of drug traffickers operating in the area, federal officials claim.
In one, Des Plaines resident Luis Antonio Cruz and Chicago resident Julio Santiago worked with brokers who had obtained wholesale quantities of cocaine and heroin from suppliers, prosecutors said.
Cruz, 48, and Santiago, 41, then sold smaller quantities of drugs to customers on consignment, prosecutors said. Cruz’s brother, 42-year-old Carlos Alberto Cruz-Carrera, allegedly helped pick up and deliver the heroin and count the proceeds.
The defendants used two homes in Des Plaines and two homes in Chicago’s Northwest Side Belmont Cragin neighborhood to store, process and package the drugs, prosecutors said.
Seventeen other alleged suppliers or distributors connected with their network are also facing federal drug charges, authorities said.
The operation also uncovered a second drug ring, helmed by 52-year-old Alfredo Acosta, also known as “Mecha” and “Jose Esteban Resendiz Ayvar,” according to the statement.
Prosecutors claim he conspired with a Mexican supplier in early 2014 to distribute cocaine and heroin, and stashed the drugs in a home in the 4000 block of West Irving Park Road — a location he called “the office,” authorities said.
Federal authorities recorded a phone call between Acosta and the supplier’s courier Edwin Amaya, who was also charged in the case. The information led authorities to a Northwest Side alley, where they seized 10 bricks of cocaine from Amaya’s car.
Authorities also tracked another deal a few months later involving another courier, 20-year-old Cicero resident Juan Davila, who was also charged. Davila and Acosta conducted a transaction in the parking lot of a coffee shop in the 3900 block of West Irving Park Road, and agents followed Davila to a home in the 2300 block of North McVicker where they seized 65 kilos of cocaine from duffel bags in a cargo van.
Four other people who prosecutors claim worked for Acosta as couriers, suppliers and sellers were also charged.
Authorities began arresting the defendants Wednesday morning after two separate criminal complaints were filed Monday.
“The charges announced today reflect the determined work of our law enforcement partners on the Chicago Strike Force,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said in a prepared statement. “Aggressively pursuing this type of investigation is critical to preventing the stream of narcotics into our communities.”
