2 Kilos Of Cocaine Mailed To Crest Hill Man Intercepted: Prosecutor

CREST HILL — A 23-year-old Crest Hill man who lives in the 1100 block of Burry Court now finds himself facing two felony drug charges after receiving a large package sent through the U.S. mail from Texas, containing 2 kilos of cocaine, court documents show.

Byron Garcia-Gonzalez is charged with possessing more than 900 grams of cocaine as well as manufacturing and delivery of more than 900 grams of cocaine, according to his charges.

Last week, on Aug. 13, the Will County Cooperative Police Assistance Team was contacted by the U.S. Postal Service about a suspicious package being sent from Texas to the Crest Hill residence of Garcia-Gonzalez.

Postal employees intercepted the package and obtained a search warrant to open it, discovering 2 kilos of cocaine. The postal employees then repackaged the parcel, and Crest Hill area police obtained a search warrant for Gonzalez's residence in the 1100 block of Burry Court.

The search warrant was carried out last Thursday.

An undercover postal inspector delivered the parcel, leaving it on the front door step and walking away. The inspector later drove back to the house and saw the package was already removed from the doorstep.

At that point, the police surveillance team waited for an alert notification of the package being opened. The police saw a woman exit and enter Gonzalez's house through the front door several days. A short time later, Gonzalez arrived in his black Jeep Wrangler.

He went inside. The package's wiring device notified the police drug agents of movement and shortly afterward, the package was opened, prosecutors say.

Several police stormed the house, and they notified the defendant that his package contained a Class X felony amount of cocaine.

"OK, I have a lot to say," Gonzalez told the police, the court documents note.

Back at the Illinois State Police District 5 headquarters, Gonzalez gave the following statement that was translated into English by a member of the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Team:

"Gonzalez got home and some lady told him that there was a package. Gonzalez took the package and attempted to open ... Gonzalez has dealt with cocaine before due to previously dealing and recognized the odor of cocaine," court documents outlined. "At this time Gonzalez took out the white packaging from the box and it was this time agents made entry into the residence.

"Gonzalez heard yelling, got scared and threw the narcotics in the air. Gonzalez denied any acknowledgement of what was inside the package or who the package belonged to. When asked why he opened it, Gonzalez stated in his country they open any package and that it doesn't matter who it belonged to. It should be noted the purple dye that was placed on the kilo of cocaine wrappers were all over Gonzalez's hands and shirt."

The cocaine package weighed 2,454.6 grams.

"The people pray that this honorable court deny the defendant pretrial release," stated prosecutor Steven Platek in his petition to deny pretrial release for the young man in Crest Hill.

Instead, one of Will County's newest judges, Gabriel Orenic, who took the bench in April, ruled in favor of Gonzalez.

Although Gonzalez is facing a detention-eligible offense, Judge Orenic ordered Gonzalez to remain on electronic monitoring and surrender the passport to Will County's pretrial services

After spending more than two days in the Will County Jail, Gonzalez was let go on Aug. 18, jail logs indicate. Gonzalez is being represented by private counsel. Attorney Boris Djulabic of the D&O Law Group in Orland Park is serving as the Crest Hill defendant's counsel.