Twelve people have been federally charged and more arrests could follow after a nearly two-year investigation into what prosecutors say was a large-scale open-air fentanyl and heroin market that operated “essentially dawn till dusk every day” on Chicago’s West Side.
The investigation began around September 2024 in the area of the 700 block of North St. Louis Avenue, where members and affiliates of the Traveling Vice Lords street gang were selling narcotics “at almost all times,” a federal detention memorandum said. By the time it ended, investigators had wiretapped multiple phones, installed surveillance cameras, carried out more than 180 controlled drug purchases from members of the group, and seized multiple shipments of narcotics, according to the memo.
Those purchases, usually involving $10 bags of narcotics, yielded more than 16 pounds of fentanyl or heroin and a much smaller amount of crack cocaine, according to the filing.
Last summer, investigators learned through wiretaps that one of the operators, Barry “Big Barry” Spires, was going to pick up a supply of heroin, then pulled him over after he obtained the narcotics, the detention memo said. Afterwards, investigators intercepted additional phone calls in which other crew members discussed the arrest and seizure.
Spires “just got popped with $10,000 worth of [expletive],” Tia “TT” Chambers allegedly reported to David “Big Boy” Collins, the alleged head of the operation.
Collins later reported that she and other members of the crew went to Spires’s car after authorities arrested him and “bust[ed] the window” to look for the narcotics, not knowing law enforcement had already seized them, the detention filing said.
The investigation culminated on July 1 when agents executed multiple search warrants tied to the organization. Prosecutors said they recovered significant quantities of suspected fentanyl, several firearms, large amounts of cash, and other evidence of drug trafficking. During one raid, agents arrested Jamieane Ellis, described in the detention filing as “a supplier to the organization” who “managed the stash house” that federal agents raided.
Prosecutors alleged Collins directed the organization while Tyrone “Smooth” Thomas, Spires, and Cortney Hanes handled wholesale quantities of drugs that replenished street sellers. Darius “Cuz” Waters allegedly obtained bulk narcotics for the group, Deontario Prater supervised street sellers, and Chambers, Octavius “Mook” Kyles, Essex “Ese” Davis, and Erik Miller allegedly sold drugs on the street.
Federal court system entries indicate that at least 15 defendants may be involved in the case, suggesting that additional arrests could be in the offing.
The case was handled by Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Chicago Police Department.
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