At least 12 individuals were arrested Thursday for allegedly running a drug market that spanned the South Side into South East suburbs.
The drug market, controlled by the Gangster Disciples street gang, along with two members of a Mexican drug trafficking cartel, was taken down during a sting. Chicago Police Narcotics Division officers conducted surveillance and disguised themselves to make under cover narcotics purchases, according to Chicago Police Department press release.
The narcotics Division and the South Chicago District officers arrested 12 of the 14 wanted individuals. Each were charged with various narcotic-related offenses:
• Melvin Birgans, 55, of the 7700 block of South Bennett.
• Steven Willis, 23, of the 6700 block of South Jeffery Blvd.
• Donald Strickland, 55, of the 8100 block of South Bennett.
• Darrell Williams, 22, of the 8000 block of South Euclid.
• Richard Pierce, 56, of the 2100 block of East 79th St.
• Robert Brandy, 41, of the 7500 block of South Hoyne.
• Adrian Fields, 55, of the 7700 block of South Bennett.
• Gary Johnson, 56, of the 1700 block of East 78th St.
• Alejandro Medina, 34, of the 500 block of Lincoln, Calumet City, IL.
• Juan Castro, 28, of the 2500 block of Dorothy Dr., Aurora, IL.
• Darryl Hardy, 32, of the 1000 block of East 41st Pl.
• April Felton, 22, of the 7800 block of South Langley.
A search warrant lead police to find 70,000 grams of cannabis that has an estimated street value of $722,000 and approximately $10,000 worth of crack cocaine, heroin, and illegal narcotic funds, along with two semi-automatic handguns and five vehicles.
“The Chicago Police Department continues its efforts to alleviate violence and chronic narcotic markets in all neighborhoods,” said Narcotics Commander James O’Grady.
