A Taste of Mexico: 300 Pounds of Pot

Police seize drug stash at restaurant

Police have seized more than 300 pounds of marijuana found behind a false wall in the basement of a Chicago grocery store.

Chicago police and members of the Illiana Regional Gang Task Force executed a search warrant at the Taste of Mexico store at 122nd and Halsted in the Roseland neighborhood, authorities said.

Task force members received information that marijuana was being kept in "multiple rooms" at the store, Chicago police Comdr. Eric Carter said. 

Three hundred pounds of marijuana was seized, along with a semi-automatic handgun and several thousand dollars in cash.   The pot stash was worth about $1 million, police told NBC Chicago.

The size of the marijuana seizure indicates the store was part of organized crime operation, Chicago police Lieutenant Maury Richards said. 

Police arrested Cruz Recio, 38, who was charged with the manufacture and distribution of cannabis.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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