Brothers Among Seven Charged in Suburban Drug Sweep

Plano, IL - Two brothers from southwest suburban Plano used the store they operated as a headquarters for a drug distribution operation, a criminal complaint filed by the FBI on Monday alleges.

Two brothers from southwest suburban Plano used the store they operated as a headquarters for a drug distribution operation, a criminal complaint filed by the FBI on Monday alleges.

Seven local law enforcement agencies, as well as the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Illinois State Police were involved in the investigation, in which seven local men were arrested, according to a release from the FBI.

Arrests were made on Thursday and Friday following a two-year investigation, code-named “Operation Dos Hermanos," which targeted the distribution of controlled substances, primarily cocaine, in Kendall and Kane counties.

The investigation incorporated the use of court-authorized monitoring of phones used by the targets, the release said.

Four of those arrested were charged Monday with violating federal drug laws.

They include brothers, Mario Melendez, 38, and Abel Cadena-Martinez, 44, both of Plano, charged with importing wholesale quantities of cocaine into Kendall County, which they subsequently sold to a number of customers.

The complaint also alleges Melendez and Cardena-Martinez utilized their business, the Little Marketa General Store in Plano, as a headquarters for the drug distribution operation.

The complaint identifies Jesus Corral, 34, of Plano as a regular customer of the brothers, while Lazaro Medina, 37 of 432 S. Michigan in Villa Park is named as a supplier, the release said.

Also arrested during last week’s sweep were Ricky Wilson, 41, of Newark, Ill.; Manuel Garibay, 48, of Plano; and Ismael Nunez, 41, of Plano.

Wilson faces state drug charges, while Garibay and Nunez are being held for immigration violations, the release said. All arrests were made without incident.

During the cinvestigation, more than ten kilograms of cocaine was recovered, along with four weapons and "a substantial amount of currency," according to the release.

Those arrested on federal drug and immigration charges appeared before Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez in Chicago last week. All six were ordered held without bond, pending their next scheduled court appearances, the release said. They will be housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

The federal drug charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Wilson appeared in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton, where he was ordered held on $500,000 bond.