Drug trafficking disturbs Naperville neighborhood
$5.7 million worth of cocaine found; two men arrested

February 16, 2007
By Nick Fawell Staff Writer
You never know who lives next door.

That's what several Naperville residents in the Trails of Country Lakes subdivision learned when their neighbor was arrested for aiding the trafficking of millions of dollars worth of cocaine from his residence.

» Click to enlarge image

Neighbors were stunned this week by news of the drug bust at this house on Whispering Winds Drive.
(Terence Guider-Shaw/Staff photographer)

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Larry Dressel, who lives one block from the house where the drug bust occurred, points Sun reporter Nick Fawell in the direction from where the cops were coming in Monday's bust.
(Terence Guider-Shaw/Staff photographer)
About 300 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $5.7 million, was found Monday in the Naperville home.

Drug enforcement agents arrested two men, Jamie Garza, 32, and Ruben Galarza, 26, around 1 p.m. in connection with the trafficking.

Garza, the only person living at the residence, was paid $800 a week by people he said he didn't know to guard the illegal stash, he told authorities. The money was placed in the mailbox weekly. Garza told federal agents that Galarza, an Aurora resident, was his boss in the trafficking operation.

The house, at 30W685 Whispering Winds Drive, was a rental property and neighbors said Garza moved into the house in November. The house is owned by Anuradha and Naga Kakarala, the Naperville Township Assessor said.

Neither federal agents nor the U.S. Attorney's office would disclose background information on the suspects.

Traffic offense led to drug bust
DEA agents followed the two men for half an hour Monday morning before calling Naperville Police for assistance.
Soon after, the men were pulled over by a Naperville police officer for failing to signal before turning. After the men provided two different stories as to where they were going, the officer noticed the scent of marijuana in the car and called a K-9 unit, according to a federal affidavit.

The dogs picked up the scent of narcotics in the car and the officer called DEA agents to the scene, who were then led back to Garza's Naperville residence, with Garza's consent, where the cocaine was found. Three Naperville police patrol cars and a special enforcement investigator, who handles specialized investigations such as narcotics trafficking, assisted DEA agents on the scene.

The drugs, packaged in 300 brick-like cellophane packages weighing around one kilogram each, were found in the garage and basement, the affidavit said.

A stash that large is often destined for major cities around the country, said Gary Olenkiewicz, DEA special agent in charge of the Chicago field division. The Naperville home was an intermediary storage location.

Police also searched Galarza's Aurora home, with his consent, and found a registered semiautomatic handgun, two money counters and more than $4,000 in cash, which Galarza told authorities was from a recent selling of a car.

Neighbors shocked, frightened
Barb Bernardi, 41, lives across the street and was shocked that something like this could happen in the neighborhood, a neighborhood full children.
"There's lots of families here," she said. "It's very quiet. ... It's very surprising that someone like that would be living here."

For Bernardi and her husband, Steve, 35, who have two children, 7 and 4, the threat is even more disturbing.

"It's really scary," she said. "I have two small children, and there's a lot of children in this neighborhood."

But this is not the first time Olenkiewicz in his 23-year career has seen such a large amount of illegal narcotics stored in a quiet suburban setting.

"It's not uncommon," he said. "Drug traffickers have become very comfortable in suburban neighborhoods. They try and fit in so they don't draw attention to themselves or their illegal activities."

Neighbors noted that Garza kept a very low profile and people were rarely seen at the house.

Garza and Galarza are charged with possession with intent to distribute in excess of 5 kilograms of cocaine, which carries a sentence of between 10 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $4 million, Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Brown said.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago.

Olenkiewicz said this is the biggest cocaine seizure in his 8-month tenure as DEA Chicago field division chief.

"This is a big seizure, make no mistake about it," Olenkiewicz said. "This is significant."

Contact Nick Fawell at nfawell@scn1.com or 630-416-5196.


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