Woman Who Used Buffalo Grove Pizzeria As Front For Drug Trafficking Convicted

A 43-year-old Arlington Heights woman who prosecutors said used a former pizzeria in Buffalo Grove as a front for a drug trafficking operation was found guilty Tuesday on several drug charges, the Daily Herald reports. She could now face 60 years in prison. A co-defendant in the case, Carmelo Rios, 43, also of Arlington Heights, has already pleaded guilty, according to the Daily Herald.

Maria Garza has been convicted of manufacture and delivery of cocaine, the manufacture and delivery of heroin, methamphetamine trafficking and trafficking of a controlled substance, according to the Daily Herald. Both Garza and Rios owned DeLuca’s Pizzeriaa in Buffalo Grove. The business has since closed.

On Dec. 8, 2011, search warrants were executed at the home of Rios and Garza as well as at DeLuca’s Pizzeria. Garza and Rios were among six people arrested that week and accused of importing heroin and other drugs into Cook County following a joint investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Narcotics Prosecution Bureau, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a 2011 news release.

According to prosecutors, Rios and Garza were identified by investigators as the importers of kilogram quantities of heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana. The couple is alleged to have arranged for shipments of heroin originating from Mexican sources of supply to be transported to the Chicago area for distribution both locally and to buyers on the East Coast for subsequent distribution.

During the course of the investigation, DEA agents recovered approximately 7.5 kilograms of heroin, 1 kilogram of methamphetamine and 5.1 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated total street value of $900,000. Surveillance conducted during the operation captured the defendants arranging the delivery, sale and transportation of the narcotics to their customers.

Garza was sentenced to 13 years in prison as part of a plea deal reached in the case, the Daily Herald reports. Garza is next expected in court on June 19.

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