A suburban man faces federal drug trafficking charges after DEA agents seized about 99 pounds of cocaine that prosecutors say was stored and distributed out of a Chicago produce warehouse.
According to a federal complaint filed this week, agents have been investigating a drug trafficking and money laundering operation tied to a produce warehouse in the 2400 block of South Damen Avenue, where law enforcement officers have seized “multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine” typically stored inside white cardboard boxes labeled “Chile Type.”
The complaint said the boxes contained one-kilogram bricks of cocaine marked with agricultural equipment logos, including John Deere branding.
Shortly after midnight on Monday, January 19, agents set up surveillance near the Damen Avenue warehouse. About three hours later, a maroon 2007 GMC Acadia pulled up to a loading ramp on the northeast side of the building and Jose Luis Garcia Vazquez stepped out of the SUV and entered the warehouse, the complaint said. Moments later, he allegedly emerged carrying a heavy box, which he loaded into the SUV before driving away.
Investigators followed the vehicle to a gas station and then to Garcia Vazquez’s residence in Justice, the complaint said. When officers approached Garcia Vazquez at his home, he was carrying a white cardboard box labeled “Chile Type” and a narcotics detection dog “alerted” to the box, according to the complaint.
A search of the SUV allegedly revealed a second box containing brick-shaped packages of a white powdery substance. Each box contained approximately 20 kilo-sized bricks of suspected cocaine wrapped in John Deere packaging, according to the complaint. A kilo is 2.2 pounds.
Garcia Vazquez also consented to a search of his basement residence, where agents say they found five additional brick-shaped packages of suspected cocaine concealed between the walls of a utility room. Four of the bricks allegedly bore John Deere logos, while a fifth displayed a Caterpillar logo.
In a post-arrest interview conducted in Spanish, Garcia Vazquez allegedly admitted that he agreed to pick up and deliver cocaine for an individual he met through an acquaintance in Mexico. Prosecutors say he told agents he had completed similar deliveries about three times before and was paid approximately $200 per box.
He is charged with possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.
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