A Chicago-area man is in trouble with federal authorities who accuse him of attempting to import and sell enormous quantities of synthetic marijuana. But he may get points from those same investigators for creativity.
After authorities cracked open a Schiller Park storage locker and seized over 1,200 pounds of XLR 11, a synthetic marijuana compound, a federal complaint states that the suspect, Hisham Alkahla, discovered the stash missing the next day.
So he reported his loss to police.
Alkahla had allegedly been hatching the deal to sell the synthetic pot to a buyer in Chicago for some months last May. Unbeknownst to him, his buyer was working as an undercover informant.
After the informant told Alkahla he wanted to buy a quarter million dollars worth of XLR 11, the suspect allegedly arranged for a large quantity of the drugs to be shipped into Chicago, and texted him a photo with a sample of what was soon to be available. When agents learned where the cache was being stored, they served a search warrant on the storage facility in the 3900 block of North River Road in Schiller Park and removed the drugs.
The next day, Alkahla met with the man he believed was his buyer, who he also believed had brought $200,000 in cash. When he proudly rolled open the door of the storage facility, the complaint states, he found it empty.
“Alkahla reported to the Public Storage facility that his storage unit had been burglarized,” the complaint says, stating that he then drove to the Schiller Park Police Department where he filed a police report.
The charges say that Alkahla claimed his storage unit contained property for a Dollar Store, including clothing, papers and other miscellaneous items. He said his missing property had a value of $4,710.
The complaint says Alkahla also filed a claim with his insurance company.
Although he was arrested last month, Alkahla was indicted this week on federal charges of planning to distribute a federally controlled substance. His bond was set at $25,000.
