Snitches Snare North Chicago Man Who Moved 46 Kilos Of Cocaine: DEA

CHICAGO — Federal drug enforcement authorities say a Lake County man delivered millions of dollars worth of cocaine to a representative of a high-level Mexican drug trafficking organization who was cooperating with investigators last year.

Gilberto Almanza, 44, of North Chicago, also sold a half-kilogram of cocaine last month to another confidential law enforcement source for $18,000 in a recorded transaction, according to federal authorities.

After that deal, investigators got a warrant to search his Dugdale Road home, where they reported finding more than 2.6 kilograms of cocaine, a loaded .22-caliber pistol, supplies of ammunition and about $41,600 in cash on March 17.

Almanza was arrested that day and ordered to remain detained ahead of trial by Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan.

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Artyom Postupaka, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, said in an affidavit that one of the government's confidential sources began working with law enforcement following an arrest last August in the hopes of favorable treatment.

"The [confidential source] has been working for a Mexico-based Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) that distributes ton-quantities of cocaine throughout the United States. The DTO collects the proceeds from narcotics sales and ships the money in bulk back to Mexico," Postupaka said.

That source worked for a man called Anthony Hernandez, whom they described as an American who lives on a ranch in Jalisco, Mexico, according to the DEA agent.

"Hernandez works for a panel of approximately six or seven unknown individuals that represent the leadership of the DTO," the agent said.

According to court records, Hernandez was charged last year over the same incident as Almanza — the transfer of two duffel bags containing a combined 46 kilograms of cocaine from Almanza's car to the confidential source's car outside a breakfast restaurant in Bolingbrook on the morning of Sept. 2, 2021.

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In January, a different confidential source told authorities that they had been regularly buying kilograms of cocaine from Almanza every one to three months for years, usually charging about $36,000 for each one, according to Postupaka's affidavit.

The DEA agent said investigators watched as Almanza headed to an auto repair shop, took a landscaping truck to a Waukegan trailer and hitch store, and then got into another pickup, a Silverado registered in his name at an Evanston address, before returning home and selling cocaine to the confidential source and another person known to law enforcement but not identified in court records.

"Looks good, looks good," the source said of the drugs, before handing Almanza $18,000 in cash, according to the agent.

"It's bad ass," Almanza said.

Last week, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging Almanza with two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, one count of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking activities.

An arraignment has been scheduled for Friday, when Almanza will have an opportunity to enter a plea. According to prosecutors, a conviction for the charges in the indictment carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.