CHICAGO — Two men face felony charges after prosecutors accused them of possessing more than four pounds of fentanyl on the North Side. And one of them is also charged with possessing 27½ pounds of cocaine.
The men walked out of a home that Drug Enforcement Administration agents had under surveillance in the 4700 block of North Kennicott in Albany Park on Tuesday afternoon, Assistant State’s Attorney John Kyle said.
Agents saw Noe Cabrera-Hernandez hand a large box to Enrique Garcia-Alvarez, Kyle said. Garcia-Alvarez put the box in his vehicle and drove to the 3900 block of West Lawrence. The feds approached him there and asked what he was up to.
He told the agents that he had a box in his vehicle that he thought might contain drugs, Kyle alleged. His hunch was apparently correct. Kyle said agents found 2,000 grams of fentanyl worth $311,100 inside the box. He said they also found a loaded ghost gun with an extended magazine inside a backpack that was inside the vehicle.
Back at the house in Albany Park, agents stopped Cabrera-Hernandez as he walked out of the home with a bag containing a kilo of cocaine, Kyle alleged. He said agents searched the house with Cabrera-Hernandez’s permission and found another 12,500 grams of cocaine.
Altogether, the cocaine had a street value of $1,562,500, according to Kyle.
Their attorney said both men are 33 and work as restaurant cooks, and only Cabrera-Hernandez has any criminal background. He’s on probation for DUI and had an earlier DUI in 2015.
Judge William Fahy set bail for Cabrera-Hernandez at $500,000 cash on charges of manufacture-delivery of fentanyl and possession of cocaine.
Garcia-Alvarez is charged with armed violence, manufacture-delivery of fentanyl, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Armed violence is a state charge that essentially means someone is accused of possessing a firearm and narcotics at the same time.
Fahy set Garcia-Alvarez’s bail at $200,000 cash.
Cash bail amounts must be posted in full, unlike the more common deposit bond, which requires a 10% deposit.