CREST HILL — A 23-year-old Crest Hill man who lives in the 1100 block of Burry Court is now facing drug charges in Will County after receiving a package in the mail containing 2 kilos of cocaine, according to court documents.
Last week, on August 13, the Will County Cooperative Police Assistance Team was contacted by the U.S. Postal Service about a suspicious package sent from Texas to a residence in Crest Hill, a residence of Byron Garcia-Gonzalez.
Postal workers intercepted the package and obtained a search warrant to open it, discovering 2 kilos of cocaine. Postal workers repackaged the package and Crest Hill area police officers obtained a search warrant for Gonzalez’s residence in the 1100 block of Burry.
The search warrant was executed last Thursday. A postal inspector agreed to go undercover, delivered the package, left it at the front door and walked away. Later, the inspector drove back to the house and saw that the package was already at the door.
At that point, police set up surveillance and waited for an alert that the package had been opened. For several days, police saw a woman exit and enter Gonzalez’s home through the front door. A short time later, Gonzalez pulled into the driveway in a black Jeep Wrangler.
He went into his house. The radio in the package informed the police drug agents about the movement of the package and shortly thereafter the package was opened.
Several police officers entered the building and found the defendant, informing him that the package contained a quantity of cocaine equivalent to a Class X felony. At Illinois State Police headquarters, Gonzalez was read his rights and made the following statement, which was translated into English by a member of the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Team.
“Gonzalez came home and a woman told him there was a package. Gonzalez took the package and attempted to open it… Gonzalez had been involved with cocaine before, as he had dealt cocaine before and recognized the odor of cocaine,” court documents state. “At that point, Gonzalez took a white package out of the box and this time agents entered the apartment.
“Gonzalez heard screams, became frightened and threw the drugs in the air. Gonzalez denied knowing what was in the package or who it belonged to. When asked why he opened it, Gonzalez explained that in his country every package is opened and that it does not matter who it belongs to. It should be noted that the purple dye that had been applied to the packages of the kilo of cocaine was found all over Gonzalez’s hands and shirt.”
The cocaine packages weighed 2,454.6 grams.
“The people pray that this honorable court will deny the defendant pre-trial release,” said prosecutor Steven Platek in his motion to deny the young man pre-trial release in Crest Hill.
Instead, one of Will County’s newest judges, Gabriel Orenic, who took office in April, ruled in Gonzalez’s favor. Although Gonzalez is charged with a criminal offense that carries a penalty of incarceration, Judge Orenic ordered that Gonzalez remain under electronic monitoring and that he must surrender his passport to Will County detention authorities.
After spending more than two days in the Will County Jail, Gonzalez was released on Aug. 18, jail records show.
