CHICAGO — A Florida man faces felony narcotics charges after he allegedly tried to take $10,000 worth of cocaine through the security checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport.
Officials said Raymond Hlad, 51, went to the airport to catch a flight around 4:45 p.m. last Wednesday. TSA agents directed him to a body scanner at the checkpoint, which detected an anomaly that prompted a closer examination.
Prosecutors said agents discovered plastic baggies on Hlad containing 80 grams—nearly three ounces—of a “white rock-like substance” they suspected was cocaine.
During Hlad’s bail hearing, prosecutor Sarah Dale-Schmidt said the cocaine would have a street value of $10,000.
But Hlad’s defense attorney called out the “wildly inconsistent” street values prosecutors provide for narcotics. In a case earlier the same day, the lawyer said, prosecutors offered a cocaine street value that would make the drugs Hlad allegedly had worth just $2,000.
Judge Ankur Srivastava set bail at $10,000 and permitted Hlad to return to his suburban Tampa home to await trial after posting a 10% deposit bond.
