Feds Bust Men With 44 Pounds Of Fentanyl In Luggage At Midway: DEA

CHICAGO — Two Michigan men face drug charges and are being held on $1.5 million bond each after they were found to have 44 pounds of fentanyl in their suitcases when they were approached by federal agents at Midway Airport on Tuesday night.

Jamire Holingshed, 26, and Robert Lewis, 24, both of Detroit, were charged by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office with the manufacturing and delivering of more than 900 grams of fentanyl, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced on Thursday.

Investigators said Thursday that a DEA investigation uncovered intelligence that Holingshed and Lewis — both of whom had previously traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago in possession of illicit narcotics – were planning on flying the same route on Tuesday.

The agency said that several DEA Chicago Division Task Force Officers intercepted luggage belonging to Holingshed and Lewis at Chicago Midway International Airport on Tuesday night.
Additional law enforcement agents stopped Lewis and Holingshed at the airport baggage claim area and both men consented to have their luggage searched, the DEA said in a news release.

Both defendants had checked one suitcase, each of which contained 10 kilograms (22.2 pounds) of fentanyl, federal agents said.