Two arrested on drug charges amid Chicago overdose outbreak
CHICAGO -- Two men were arrested on drug charges as Chicago police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration searched Chicago's West Side trying to find the source of 74 heroin overdose cases in 72 hours last week, the Chicago Tribune reports.
According to court records, the two are accused of selling an estimated 4.8 grams of heroin to an undercover officer.
Alfonzo Sylvester, 24, and Mario Wofford, 26, both reputed gang members, sold $720 worth of heroin to an undercover police officer on the West Side Friday, prosecutors said -- the same area where the lethal drugs were primarily bought. Police were investigating one death to see if it was related to the overdose outbreak, according to the paper.
Prosecutors said Sylvester fled and took police on a chase in his Buick Regal and escaped but was seen walking Saturday and was arrested with more than $1,000 in cash on him. They said he later admitted to selling drugs to the officer.
He was charged with possession of heroin and intent to deliver, as well as aggravated fleeing and eluding police. His bond was set at $30,000.
Wofford was arrested Friday, charged with possession with intent to deliver and held on a $10,000 signature bond because he had no history of violent crime, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Sylvester was on supervision for a prior DUI, according to prosecutors. He also had been convicted of three prior felonies, including a 2011 conviction for resisting arrest in Coles County. He is set to return to court on Oct. 21.
The drugs thought to be responsible for the overdoses were bought primarily on Chicago's West Side, police said. Chicago police say the deadly batches of narcotics might contain fentanyl, a painkiller that might have been laced into a sample of heroin recovered by Chicago police.