Efrain Jacobo

A man with addresses in both Prospect Heights and Belvidere has been indicted on charges of dealing methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine, and illegally selling firearms.

The arrest of Efrain Jacobo, 42, follows an investigation in which 330 pounds of methamphetamine was allegedly found hidden in bricks shipped to him from Texas.

Jacobo, whose vehicle is registered to an address on the 800 block of East Willow Road in Prospect Heights, was arrested Dec. 19 on a criminal complaint after a two-month investigation that also produced a federal indictment on Feb. 13. He was arraigned last week on six felonies, including possession with intent to deliver 400 grams of fentanyl, two counts of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, two counts of distribution of methamphetamine, and one count of illegally dealing firearms.

Jacobo pleaded not guilty to the charges. Judge Matthew Kennelly set his next court hearing for April 8, and set a tentative Dec. 8 trial date.

The suspect was ordered jailed pending trial. Prosecutors argued that Jacobo, who required an interpreter, be detained due to both the strength of the evidence against him and his being a flight risk due to his having “significant family or other ties outside the United States.”

In all, prosecutors allege, Jacobo distributed 452 grams of methamphetamine (16 ounces) and 29 grams (one ounce) of cocaine. He also allegedly sold seven firearms.

Prosecutors say federal law enforcement was alerted to Jacobo in October, after the Bolingbrook Police Department became aware of alleged narcotics and firearms trafficking.

During their investigation, federal agents say, they seized 330 pounds of methamphetamine from a truck that had traveled from Texas to Bolingbrook. They also allegedly confiscated fentanyl and cocaine from a storage facility in Wheeling that Jacobo used, as well as cocaine from Jacobo’s truck.

Agents said they also seized $10,000 and a 9mm hand gun with ammunition from the suspect.

Prosecutors said Jacobo began exchanging phone calls and text messages in October with an individual looking to purchase cocaine, methamphetamine and firearms. Unbeknownst to Jacobo, his cell phone was being monitored, his truck was being electronically tracked, he was being physically watched, and the person he allegedly sold the drugs and guns to was an undercover agent, according to prosecutors.

Authorities say they made undercover purchases of drugs or guns from Jacobo on Oct. 30 and Nov. 6. During the Nov. 6 purchase of three firearms from Jacobo, he told the undercover agent that he was living in Rockford, and “also stated he had a storage unit in Des Plaines and Wheeling,” law enforcement officials said.

Prosecutors say Jacobo also told the undercover officer that he had a car “with a compartment in which he fits ten pounds (of meth) under each seat and about $100,000 to $200,000.”

On Nov. 12, law enforcement obtained a court-ordered “trap and trace” on Jacobo’s phone, and days later, the same phone registered in Fort Dodge, Iowa. A court-approved tracking device was also placed on Jacobo’s truck around the same time.

On Nov. 16, agents say, they tracked Jacobo’s truck as he drove 300 miles to Fort Dodge, and after a brief stay, drove 300 miles back, past his Belvidere residence to a storage facility on South Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, where he was just a few minutes, then left.

Two days later, prosecutors say, Jacobo told the undercover agent he’d “got rid of five pounds of meth in Iowa.”

On Dec. 18, federal agents intercepted a semi-trailer truck loaded with pallets of bricks being shipped to Jacobo, at a facility in Bolingbrook. When facility personnel unloaded the truck, a K-9 dog allegedly alerted police to the presence of illegal drugs. When the pallets were inspected, agents discovered that several bricks in the interior of the pallet were misshapen.

Each pallet was found to contain 21 misshapen bricks which, when broken open, were found to contain canisters holding a “crystal-like” substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine, authorities said.