RIVERSIDE, Ill. (STMW) - A 17-year-old high school student who police called “a major supplier of cannabis” to young people and high school students in west suburban Riverside was arrested and his drug operation taken down Friday.

The Riverside Police Department and the West Suburban Enhanced Drug and Gang Enforcement Task Force (WEDGE) executed a narcotics search warrant at 48 Lawton Road in Riverside — across the street from the village’s police station — on Friday, a release from police said.

Investigators were looking for — according to the search warrant — and found, cannabis, drug paraphernalia and tools for processing, preparing, and cutting cannabis for resale, the release said.

A 17-year-old male, the resident of the complex named in the search warrant, was present at the time of the warrant service and was arrested.

The warrant was based on a WEDGE narcotics investigation that began in July, culminating in the arrest of the juvenile, a Riverside Brookfield High School student. He was charged with manufacture and delivery of cannabis, possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia. The young man “was a major supplier of cannabis to Riverside children and RBHS students. He had been on our radar for some time,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said.

Police have notified Riverside Brookfield High School staff of the arrest and they say the school has been fully cooperative. All drug transactions took place off school grounds.

“This is a significant arrest as the juvenile arrested was selling cannabis to other juveniles in the Riverside area and had been supplying students at RBHS with cannabis for an extensive period of time,” Weitzel said. “Police observed numerous drug transactions in which the ‘customer’ would ride their bike to the Lawton Road address to make drug purchases.”

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.