More than 30 people have been charged with participating in an extensive heroin trafficking ring that operated in Cook and DuPage counties and contributed to an "epidemic" of heroin use in the region, officials said Wednesday.
Twenty-two of the 31 people charged appeared in DuPage County bond court Wednesday, including a 26-year-old Chicago man accused of being at the center of the ring, which authorities said found a market in the suburbs and generated profits of up to $3,000 a day.
"We have a heroin epidemic in this county," said DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, who noted that there have been 70 drug overdoses in the county since the start of 2012.
At a news conference, Berlin said the investigation began in February when police recovered heroin during the search of a Carol Stream residence and generated information about the drug-trafficking operation.
During the investigation, authorities tapped 17 phone lines and spent thousands of hours listening to calls and conducting surveillance, Berlin said.
Officials at the news conference displayed two large poster boards to represent the relationship and structure of the operation. At the center of both boards was the face of Andres Garcia, of the 4900 block of West Concord Place in Chicago.
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