Police Go After Drug Markets On South Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Police are going after drug gangs, in an effort to cut the level of gun violence in the city.
As WBBM Newsradio's Jan Coleman reports, undercover and surveillance took place in four South Side districts -- Gresham, Englewood, Chicago Lawn and Deering.
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The investigations are continuing, but police say the preliminary results are impressive – 61 search warrants executed, and 55 suspects in custody.
Two major drug traffickers operating in the Englewood District – which includes the Englewood and West Englewood neighborhoods where much of the city's gun violence takes place – were taken into custody.
The heroin and cocaine allegedly in their possession has a street value of $400,000.
The effort is part of the Police Department's broader Violence Reduction Strategy, according to police officials.
"Missions of this nature don't stop simply with a round-up or wave of arrests," Narcotics Division Cmdr. James O'Grady said in a news release. "This operation remains focused on issues beyond the street-level narcotics activity. We are addressing a whole array of quality of life issues, gang activity and violent crimes that revolve around the narcotics trade."
Police also conducted a separate drug investigation in the Morgan Park District on the Far South Side, in which they executed three search warrants, identified nine targets, and arrested four of them.
