More Than 50 Charged In Investigation Of Drug Sales On West Side

CHICAGO, IL — More than 50 people have been charged in a joint federal and state drug investigation on the West Side of Chicago, federal officials said. The "Operation Full Circle" investigation resulted in the seizure of a kilogram of fentanyl, more than two kilograms of heroin and 300 pounds of marijuana, according to officials. Authorities also seized 17 illegal firearms, including three rifles, and around $8,000 in narcotics proceeds, officials said.

Krzystof Rak, 60, operated a drug trafficking organization in Mexico, according to federal officials. Rak worked with Christopher J. Doss, 47, of Racine, Wisconsin, to distribute fentanyl to customers in the Chicago area, officials said.

According to federal complaints, Donald Holmes Sr., 56, of Chicago, and Ivan Walton, 45, of Lynwood, regularly distributed Rak’s narcotics in the Chicago area and collected payment from customers.

Officials said Doss supplied more than 880 grams of fentanyl to Walton in a restaurant parking lot earlier this year. Law enforcement conducted surveillance of the transaction after securing court authorization to wiretap their phones, authorities said.

Officials said that Nakia McClinic, 43, of Chicago, tried to deliver heroin and fentanyl to a person who had received the drug order from Deshawn Moore, 24, of Bellwood. According to the federal complaints, when McClinic arrived at the meeting in a University of Illinois at Chicago parking lot, law enforcement was watching. Officers tried to pull over McClinic’s vehicle but he sped off and tossed the drugs out the window, officials said. McClinic’s vehicle was stopped shortly after, and the narcotics were recovered nearby, according to authorities.

The massive investigation also revealed a kidnapping plot, federal officials said. Tekoa Q. Tinch, 30, of Bloomington, agreed to carry out a kidnapping in exchange for drugs and a split of money recovered from the victim, according to federal complaints. Tinch met with an undercover officer in the parking lot of a grocery store in Little Village, officials said. The officer was posing as a member of the Mexico-based group, authorities said. Tinch accepted a sham kilogram of cocaine as a downpayment on the kidnapping, according to the complaints. Tinch was then arrested and his car was searched, officials said. The search revealed guns, duct tape and chains, the charges allege.

"We're making it abundantly clear that we will not tolerate violence in our neighborhoods and are taking strong steps to keep our streets safe — not only from the sounds of gunshots, but the devastating effects of drugs," CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson said in a press briefing Wednesday.

"The federal help is huge because it sends the message that we're all in this fight together," Johnson said. "We don't have an infinite amount of resources so all the systems that federal and state partners can give us is hugely appreciated."

Seven of the defendants were charged with various drug offenses, and two defendants were charged with firearm offenses, according to authorities. Detention hearings for some of the federal defendants will be held on June 22. Forty-eight other defendants were charged in state complaints and have begun making their first appearances in Cook County Criminal Court, officials said.

Top video via CPD/Facebook; image by Amber Fisher